Love at Fifth Sight
by Warrior of Ice
Summary: Ami and Zach (Zoisite) find themselves the unwilling victims of matchmaking friends, parents, and siblingscousins. Whenever it seems that success may be at hand for the conspirators, misunderstandings and bad luck prevail until their very last meeting.
1. Ew, Boys aka Incident at the Seashore

Disclaimer: I do not own the Shittenou/senshi or any other characters from the Sailor Moon Universe (they belong to Naoko Takeuchi and some other companies I don't feel like naming).

_Dedication_: To Kaze, for three reasons:

1. For trusting and honoring me to be her editor,

2. Because she encouraged me so much after just reading the preview of this story, and

3. For her birthday (12/19)

_Story Information_

Genre: Romance/Humor

Main Characters: Ami and Zoisite

Rating: PG

**This story is AU (Alternate Universe), and the senshi/Shittenou do not exist (they're in civilian form ^.~).

_Part I_

            Ami Mizuno-Anderson peeked cautiously at her cousin Rei Hino, who was sitting to her right. Rei was just her age, a few months older. She had been orphaned very recently, so Ami's parents had gained legal guardianship of her. Ami, an extremely shy and quiet child, had tried to make an effort to be friendly and get to know her, but Rei was very good at being silent and unresponsive. Her form of intimidation was one of the best Ami had seen, and she had met many intimidating people in her relatively short lifespan. For some strange reason, Ami's glasses and small stature seemed to attract bullies. Rei wasn't a bully, precisely, she was merely...a bit scary.

            When Rei's fathomless amethyst eyes turned her way, she quickly tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ear and pretended to be engrossed in the scenery–it wasn't very interesting; they were on a crowded, jam-packed highway, on the way to a very private beach. There was nothing for Ami to see except car after car after car...some trucks...SUVs...exhaust fumes...a boy sticking his tongue out at her... 

            She blinked her ocean-hued eyes, wondering if she had been imagining things–nope, traffic stopped again (her father muttered something inaudible under his breath), and the boy sitting in the backseat of the car in the lane next to them was making faces at her. He had unruly, riotous blond hair and looked to be about her age. She glared at him, but before he could respond in kind, he was shoved aside by another blonde. 

            This boy bore a very slight resemblance to the first one, and his hair was cut shorter. He grinned impishly at her and then pressed his face against the glass so it looked all mashed and deformed. 

            Ami sucked in a breath, and Rei asked just then, "What are you looking at?" She pointed, and Rei said immediately, "Ew. Boys." 

            Ami smiled. It look like they would get along just fine after all. 

            "Here's what you have to do," she proclaimed next–and promptly stuck her tongue out at the short-haired boy. 

            He looked very shocked and taken aback for an instance, but in the next minute, he retaliated, she communicated her reply, and the war was on between them. Ami watched in fascination as they moved on from the tongue battle to the competition of who could make the weirdest faces. As soon as she saw that the cars ahead of them were beginning to move (and the ones in the boys' lane was not), Rei stuck out her tongue one last time, smirked superiorly, and flounced back to her seat. Ami turned her attention back to the front of the car as they zoomed away. The ice between them had been broken, and pretty soon, they had struck up a conversation.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            The next morning, after breakfast was served, Ami and Rei made their way to the ocean's edge excitedly–under adult supervision, of course. In the morning, the water was still a bit chilly, so they began collecting seashells that had washed up. Just as Ami was about to pick up a particularly pretty, rosy-pink shell, clouds of sand were kicked up right in front of her face, and she scrubbed frantically at her eyes to get the sand out. 

            When she could see again, albeit tearily, the shell was gone, and the two fair-haired boys she had seen on the highway the day before were racing around by the surf, whooping and yelling loudly. Rei was standing nearby, a sympathetic look on her face, and she held out Ami's glasses. They walked together back towards her mother, and Ami glared at the backs of the boys, sniffling. 

            The grains in her eyes felt scratchy and uncomfortable, and her glasses and face were dirty. She'd thought they were bad enough in another car, and if they were on the same beach, she was sure they would make her vacation miserable. Rei was right–boys were icky. They would always be mean, and loud, and they'd always pick on her because she was a four-eyes and because she was so small and skinny...but they'd always have cooties. Ami nodded in satisfaction as the trio headed back in so she could rinse her eyes out. That must be their punishment for being nasty–they were forever doomed to have cooties. She liked having justice doled out.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            One morning, as they walked into the dining room, Ami's mouth fell open in horror. Her father was already there, conversing animatedly with another man, who was accompanied by a woman and two boys–two blond-haired, mischievous-looking boys who were smirking for all they were worth. 

            Rei was not impressed–she merely gave them her best death glare. As her aunt led them over to her uncle, she discreetly stuck her tongue out at the blue-eyed one. 

            Richard Anderson smiled at his wife and said, "Kira, this is Derick Coruni and his wife Aileen, and these are their two boys, Jaden and Zachary. Derick, Aileen, this is my wife, Kira, my daughter, Ami, and my niece, Rei." So the short-haired, blue-eyed boy was Jaden, and his brother, Zachary, was the one with longer hair and green eyes.

            Ami and Rei said "how do you do" politely to the grown ups and then proceeded to eat in silence, ignoring their counterparts across the table, who played with the salt and pepper shakers, dropped their cutlery on the ground several times, made interesting shapes with their food, kicked each other (and sometimes the girls by accident) under the table and promptly received identical glowers from Rei and Ami (who was getting the hang of things), and were generally loud, obnoxious, and boisterous. Unfortunately for the girls, Ami's parents got along famously with the boys' parents, and it was soon arranged that the adults would take turns taking all four children to the beach together. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Aileen Coruni was feeling very harassed. She was used to dealing with her "twin terrors"–although they weren't really twins, Jaden and Zachary were so much alike and approximately the same size (Zach was a year older) that most people thought they were twins. There was many a time that she wished they weren't so similar personality-wise. The girls were no problem. They adored Aileen, and she thought they were little angels in the guise of two human girls. But for some reason, they were setting Jaden and Zachary off. They were being more prankish and rambunctious than usual, and the girls were the target of their tricks.

            Most of the time, Ami was their prey. She was quieter and liable to cry, while Rei stood up for the both of them and gave as good as she got. Aileen had been shocked–she hadn't ever been able to see anyone take on both of her sons at once before. Unfortunately, poor Ami had been splashed numerous times, dragged underwater daily by the boys (Zachary was especially good at swimming and diving), snuck up on countless times, and doused with buckets upon buckets of sand and seawater dumped on her head. 

            Nothing was working. Aileen had scolded and punished the boys, but she hadn't the heart to do anything serious while they were on vacation and supposed to be having fun (clearly, they were having loads of fun at Ami's expense). She had made them apologize to Ami, Rei, and Ami's parents (she had become particularly good friends with Kira, and they were planning on keeping touch, since it seemed that they lived only a few hours away from each other), and fortunately, Ami's parents seemed to take for granted that this was typical childish behavior on the boys' parts. 

            Jaden and Zachary weren't really being bullies. They were having fun and enjoying themselves, and they were always surprised when Ami burst into tears. It wasn't that they purposely made her cry or wanted to be mean; they liked jokes. They just weren't aware of the fact that it wasn't as fun for those they teased as it was for them...

            The two dark-haired girls sat a safe distance from the waves crashing onto the shore, engaged in building a sand castle. There were buckets, shovels, and shells to be used for decorating strewn around them, and they were having a wonderful time–until Zachary, being pursued by Jaden in a lively game of tag, stepped right in the middle of their nearly-completed work of art. "Oops," he managed insufficiently.

            Ami watched in disbelief as its golden turrets fell before her eyes, the foundation crumbling into mere sand once more. Tears provided no outlet for her this time, and a hot, sweeping rush of anger rose in her. Fury lit her blue eyes, the same color as the sun-dappled ocean on clear days, and she stood up, clenching her fists at her sides. "I hate you!! Why do you always have to make fun of me and bother me? Why can't you just leave me alone?!"

            He stared at her, too shocked to even apologize, and Jaden skidded to a rather late stop behind him, his mouth also gaping open. Aileen had come up to them just then as well, too late to salvage the situation.

            Even Rei was taken aback. Patting her cousin's grimy, sand-plastered hand gently, she said, "Don't be angry, Ami. It's okay. We can make another sand castle."

            "No! I don't want to make another sand castle! I want you–and _you_–to leave me alone!!" With that, she whirled around and ran off to a distant dune, plopping down with her back to them. 

            Jade nudged his brother and muttered in awe, "Never knew Mizuno-Anderson had it in her."

            "Me neither," Zach managed to say, his eyes fixed on her slight figure. Turning to look at his mother, he flushed and scuffed his bare foot in the sand. "Uh...sorry, Mom."

            "I don't think I'm the one you have to say sorry to, Zachary."

            He gulped nervously. "What if she–what if she _bites_ me?"

            "Don't be silly!" Aileen snapped, at the end of her rope.

            Her other son spoke up in agreement, "Yeah, these girls are _scary_. I mean, that one," he indicated Rei, "she can hit. And kick. Hard."

            She smiled innocently. "I don't really think now would be a good time for them to talk to her, Aunt Aileen."

            Sighing, Aileen gave her sons a remonstrating look that promised a scolding later on, and she walked over to Ami's hunched-over form. 

            Brushing herself off as she levered herself off the ground, Rei fixed the two boys standing before her with her violet eyes and said matter-of-factly, "Don't worry, you'll get your punishment. Ami says you'll have cooties forever 'n ever, and you deserve it."

            As she walked off, she heard Jaden say, "Hey, we don't have cooties...do we?"

            Zachary shrugged, a baffled look on his face. "The only thing I'm going to say is, the girls around here aren't normal. They're not like the ones back home. We'd better leave them alone for a while." 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            So they stayed a safe distance away from Ami and Rei for the rest of the time–and they never did apologize. While the grown-ups were talking the last day there, they stood waiting by their respective cars (which just had to be parked side by side) and stared at each other. "Well...see you, Mizuno-Anderson," Zachary said awkwardly, unsure of how one was supposed to say goodbye to a girl. 

            "Yeah, see you, Rei," his brother added.

            Rei sniffed. "Well, _I_ don't want to see you two again. _Ever_."

            Glaring at them, Ami muttered, "'Bye."

            Jaden and Zach exchanged looks. They wished, a bit, that they lived near Rei and Ami. They were pretty fun to tease, and Rei wasn't so bad after all (although they avoided Ami like poison now)...and they wanted to see Ami's reaction when she went home...

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Ami frowned as her dad opened the trunk and handed her the little bag she had packed to take to the beach (most of her clothes and necessities were in her parents' luggage). It gave off a strong, fishy smell, much more potent that she had expected, and a feeling of trepidation came over her as she knelt down and undid the drawstring. After a few hours in the hot August sun, roasting away in the trunk...she gave a shriek when she saw her precious possessions mixed in with murky seawater, oyster and clam shells (now opened and squirming around), and mermaid's purses. 

            Miles away, Jaden and Zachary laughed, imagining her reception to their parting surprise, and high-fived each other. 

            Rei's eyes narrowed. If she ever saw them again, they'd better watch out–because this meant war.

            Kira Mizuno and Richard Anderson merely exchanged slightly amused looks. Sure, Ami would have to be consoled and the bag would have to be cleaned... Kira smiled. "Remember what I said before? When boys are that age, if they tease girls, it means they like them."

            "Don't go jumping to conclusions. I'm merely admiring their ingenuity."

            "We'll just wait and see," Kira said serenely. "Only time will tell."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

AN: Well...how was it? ^^; I apologize for any misconstrued conceptions I have of children around the age of five to seven...it's been a little while since I was that young, and I have to admit, I don't really remember what it was like ^^;; but I'm trying. 

            If Ami seems like a wuss now, it's because she is. ^^;; But Rei will help her open up, and she gets a backbone by the next part of the story.

            The next part of the story deals with adolescent Ami meeting up with Zoi again. The story focuses mainly on them, but Rei and Jade also play principal parts, and Mina, Kunzite, Mako/Lita, Nephrite, Usa/Serena, and Mamoru/Darien will be appearing later on. Never fear, and thank you for reading!

            All the best, ~Ice

*About the mermaid's purses...they're those black rectangular things that have tentacle-type things coming off at each of the four corners...they're egg cases for some type of sea creature (for some reason, I'm thinking shark). 


	2. So We Meet Again

_Part II, Chapter One_

            Ami exchanged an excited glance with her friend from school, Mina. They were on their way to the private beach 

where her family rented a house each summer; it had been years since she had been there. She also had not seen either of the Coruni boys (much to her relief) since their first, doom-laden meeting. 

            During the next few summers, her mother had taken her and Rei back to Japan to spend some time with their relatives, the vast majority of which remained there. When Ami was ten years old, she and Rei began attending boarding school, as was considered fashionable by the rich families of upper-class society, to which the Mizuno-Andersons belonged. Ami herself wasn't overly fond of many of the people she had met, but she had made some friends, the closest of which was Mina. Although they had been planning to return to the beach during the year Ami was ten, the family had returned to Japan, because her and Rei's aunt, Kira Mizuno's older sister, had been diagnosed with cancer. When she was eleven, her grandmother passed away in the winter, her aunt in the spring. Once again, they returned to support the Mizunos in their time of grief. 

            Then, over the course of the next three years, Ami had never been able to find much time to return to the private beach, never for a very long stay. Her parents were encouraging her to become more social and friendly with the sons and daughters of the families they associated with, so she had spent a lot of her vacation spending a few weeks here and there and trying to be polite to people she didn't like. The only time Ami had fun was when she had Rei for company, and she was seeing increasingly less of Rei. 

            During their second year of boarding school, Rei had decided she couldn't stand the snobby, spoiled girls who stuck up their noses at her. The status Ami held was mostly from her father, Richard Anderson, who had been looked down upon for marrying a Japanese woman. Kira Mizuno was accepted because of his influence, but the girls found no problem in ignoring and snubbing Rei. While she didn't really care for their opinion, she found that the number of people she got along with were outnumbered by those she didn't, and after a particularly serious argument, she had firmly told her aunt and uncle that she wanted to attend public school. 

            She had tried another semester, for Ami's sake, but her attempt had failed. Rei had an explosive temper when she was riled, but for the most part, she had firm control over it. One of the things Ami admired most was that Rei, while still considered a moderately tolerant person, knew when she was in the right and wouldn't stand for certain things. 

            Another thing Rei wouldn't put up with were social calls. She saw no point in being polite to people who were unreasonably rude to her, and she hated pretending to be something she wasn't. Ami felt similarly uncomfortable, but her parents' expectations weighed heavily on her, so she continued on at boarding school and with the social circles. 

            At school, Ami received top marks in several of her subjects and worked hard, and she and Rei wrote each other weekly. Rei had also met Mina, who had transferred to the school in the middle of second year. They were also good friends, but the thing Rei just couldn't understand about Mina was her perpetually optimistic nature. She was friendly to everyone, and she was very popular–which made some of the girls jealous, and while they smiled and gossiped with her one minute, they would be spreading rumors and talking about her behind her back about her the next. When acquainted with this fact by Ami and Rei, Mina merely shrugged it off, said it was their choice to do whatever they wanted, and kept smiling. This was the main point of contention between the two: Rei thought it was unfair and demanded that Mina do something about it, but Mina disagreed and refused to discuss the subject any further.

            Another problem was that Mina was the type of person everyone liked–unless they were jealous of her. She was always bright and cheerful, and she always made people laugh. When people talked to her, they felt their worries melt away, and for a few precious moments, they enjoyed themselves. Her presence was like a drug of sorts, and everyone liked being around her because of the way she made them feel. She was always nice, upbeat, happy, and she, for the most part, agreed with what they said or merely kept her mouth shut. It was impossible for anyone to have a serious conversation with her unless she chose to instigate one. Even Ami knew only a little bit about Mina, and they were best friends. But then again, most of the talk in school was superficial. 

            At least they would be seeing Rei soon, although they would be there before she arrived: their boarding school adjourned for summer recess earlier than Rei's public school did. Resolving to put aside her worries for once and enjoy her vacation, despite the fact that the beach was becoming an extremely popular resort for the young socialites, she settled back and closed her eyes, letting the sun's hot rays touch her face.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Zachary Coruni strolled along the sandy beach, waving casually at any guys he recognized and smiling flirtatiously at any girls he knew. His brother Jaden was doing basically the same thing but to a more exuberant extent when he encountered female friends. Their close friend Kunthan was with them, but he merely nodded politely to the guys and refrained from saying anything to the girls. 

            Zach and Jade exchanged an exasperated look and shook their heads: boarding school had deranged Kun worse than they'd thought. He was being so stiff and formal; they would have to fix that. Suddenly, a pair of girls making their way to the water's edge caught his eye, and he nudged his brother. "What's your opinion of those two? Shall we go and introduce ourselves?" he asked mischievously, "acquaint them with our magnetic charms?"

            Kunthan merely shook his head but smiled indulgently. He knew them all too well. He wasn't going to condone such nonsense, but if they were going to so willingly provide him with the amusement of seeing them being slapped, he'd let them.

            Jaden, on the other hand, grinned his trademark grin after a brief examination of their physical attractiveness. "Sure, why not? The more, the merrier."

            "Jade..." his friend said in a warning tone, "be nice."

            "I'm being very nice," he said innocently. 

            "You're going to break their hearts."

            "You're one to talk," Zachary cut in.

            Looking puzzled, he asked, "What are you talking about?"

            Smirking, the blue-eyed blond replied, "It seems that some of the girls prefer the 'strong, silent type.' If only you were tall, dark, and handsome, too..." Kunthan shoved him lightly, but for Kunthan, a light shove was more along the lines of a very enthusiastic punch, and Jaden staggered slightly. "Not so hard, Kun."

            "Sorry."

            "No, you're not."

            "Shut up, Zach. So anyway, Kun, you don't want us to practice our irresistible charm on anyone anymore...so we'll watch these girls from a safe distance, and if they just so happen to catch our glances and make their way over to us...well, we aren't responsible for the consequences. They can stay away if they want to. Deal?" 

            After mulling over Jaden's proposal for a few seconds, Kunthan rolled his eyes and nodded, considering himself beaten. "Fine, whatever you want. Just leave me out of whatever messes and slaps come your way this time."

            In a mock-offended tone, Zach protested, "It's not our fault you couldn't even duck a hit from a _girl_ that _one_ time."

            "You know, I was starting to wonder why they slapped you two so often. Now I don't."

            "What's that supposed to mean?" Jade asked curiously.

            "You two know nothing about not offending girls."

            Rolling his eyes, Zach proclaimed, "I only flirt with the girls I don't like, remember. If I'm really into a girl, I leave her alone."

            "I have yet to see that happen," Kunthan said dryly.

            Looking skeptical, his brother inquired, "Are you sure that's the best way to go about it?" 

            He shrugged in reply. 

            "So...I guess you've never really fallen hard for a girl yet, huh?"

            Puzzled, Zach asked, "Why do you say that?"

            "Because there hasn't been a girl that you haven't flirted with yet!!" Kunthan exclaimed in an exasperated tone of voice.

            He smiled serenely. "I guess Miss Right hasn't come along yet, then."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Oh, Ames, don't look now, but this really hot guy is staring at you!"

            Sighing, Ami shifted position on her towel to make eye contact with her friend. "Mina," she said tiredly, "the last time few times you told me that, the first guy was looking for his sister, the second thought I looked like his ex-girlfriend, started mouthing off at me, and didn't even bother to apologize when he discovered I wasn't, and the third just wanted to ask us where the bathrooms were."

            Looking insulted, Mina replied, "No, I'm positive this time! You look for yourself, then. To your right, and behind you a few feet. But do it discreetly."

            Shaking her head, Ami did as she was told, but only to get Mina off her back. She met the intense stare of three blond-haired guys around her age, and she turned away instantly, flushing. "You didn't tell me there were three of them! I feel–I feel naked!"

            She blinked. "What're you talking about? You have your bathing suit on! A very modest, one-piece bathing suit too, if I may say so."

            "No, you can't. I mean, I don't like the way they're looking at me. They're–they're _scrutinizing_ us."

            Mina smiled cheerily. "I know. Don't you think they're very good-looking?"

            "I don't know. I didn't look at them long enough to tell. Besides, I'm not interested." The last three words were pronounced firmly. Very firmly.

            "Oh, come on," wheedled her friend, "you must have _some_ perspective of their looks."

            Sitting up self-consciously, Ami rubbed the back of her neck. "My question is what kind of looks you're talking about, and my opinion is I wish you hadn't told me, because now my neck feels ticklish. I don't like people watching me."

            Suddenly, Mina sat up and waved wildly. "Hey, Nevan!!"

            Ami also looked in the direction she was waving, and a brown-haired guy jogged towards them. "Mina, Ami. I didn't know you guys would be here," he greeted, looking surprised but pleased to see them. Nevan was one of their friends from boarding school. Mina had an abundance of male friends, but Ami had very few. The fact that she accepted Nevan and got along with him very well spoke well of him. He was not as upbeat as Mina, but he was easy to get along with and also very smart. He was also someone who didn't often get personal with people, and the only thing most people at the school could say about him was that he liked astronomy–that was the only thing he made clear about himself. 

            "Yeah, well...so, how's your summer been? Done anything interesting? Met any beautiful people?" 

            Ami shook her head, listening to Mina make small-talk. Nevan and Mina were forever flirting with each other, and they had fun doing it. Both of them knew very well that it was completely harmless, but Ami still didn't like it. If flirting was to be done at all, in her opinion, it had to be serious.

            The brunet smiled and replied, "Things have been...hot. And no, I'm sorry to tell you, Mina, I couldn't find any girls more beautiful than you are." More of the same ensued until Nevan commented, "Ami, you're being very quiet. Quieter than normal. Is something wrong?"

            She was flipping nervously through one of Mina's magazines, not really noticing what she was looking at. She would have brought a book, but Mina had hidden all of them and said she couldn't remember where she'd put them. Knowing Mina, that actually _was_ possible, but Ami hoped it wasn't true. One of the three boys were still staring at her unrelentingly. "No, everything's fine–"

            Mina cut her off by saying, "There were these three guys watching her, and she's scared of them. You're too modest, Ami."

            "I don't think modest is the right word..."

            Nevan squinted in the direction she had indicated carelessly. "Hey...I think I know them. Well, two of them."

            "Great!" Mina chirped. "How about you introduce us, then?"

            "No!! Mina!!" her friend hissed. "I want to stay here!"

            Grinning wickedly, Nevan pulled his reluctant friend to her feet. "Don't be shy, Ami. They won't bite. I mean, they have been known to, on occasion, but I won't let them bite you."

            "How comforting," she muttered darkly, staring at the ground as they converged upon the three boys. 

            "Hey, Zach! Long time no see! And you too, Jade."

            "Nev? We haven't seen you in years!" 

            Things continued for a short while in the same vein, until Zach remembered his manners. Sort of. "So, Nev," he began, smiling devilishly, "who are these two lovely ladies with you? If I introduce Kun here to you, will you let us meet them?" Without waiting for an answer as a startled look came over Nevan's face, he pushed his friend forward and said, "This is Kunthan. But call him Kun. We prefer it."

            Mina giggled. Ami was looking longingly at the water. To her, it was clear that the guy's opinion of himself and his charms was as big as Mount Everest. If his ego got any bigger, it'd knock the moon off course from its orbit.

            "Nice to meet you, Kun. I'm sorry, I forgot...we were so caught up in seeing each other again. Mina, Ami, these are Jaden and Zachary Coruni."

            Ami wondered why their names sounded familiar.

            "Call me Jade." A charming grin.

            "And I'm Zach." A wide smirk.

            Ignoring them, Nevan continued, "Our parents are old friends. And these are my friends from school, Ami Mizuno-Anderson and–"

            "Mizuno-Anderson?!"

            Her head snapped up then, and her ocean-blue eyes met Zach's deep green eyes. "Oh no," she whispered. It had been a long, long time ago–nearly seven years ago–but she still remembered–vaguely–two boys who had made her summer miserable. An impression of fair hair came back to her now, and she also recalled their names. Her mother had mentioned them a few times, but Ami hadn't given them much thought. Dealing with the immediate problem, she frowned severely. She hated being called Mizuno-Anderson. 

            Jade was grinning now. "Hey, aren't you the one we sent home with that nice surprise–what was it, six years ago?"

            "I hope you cry less now, Mizuno-Anderson," Zach added teasingly.

            Mina, Nevan, and Kunthan were too shocked to say anything, but Ami found her voice and something else, too. "I guess your mind is as mature as it was when you were seven years old. Is growing up too much for your brain cells to handle? Because no one else here seems to think you're funny. My name is Ami. You should use it." Everyone's staring eyes had turned on her, and when she realized what she'd said, she covered her mouth with both hands, turned, and ran away...sprinting all the way up to the cluster of freshly-painted buildings.

            When Zach spoke again, it wasn't what anyone expected (except Jaden). "Damn, Mizuno-Anderson has nice legs. And she can run, too."

            No one was surprised when Mina smacked him. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


	3. Dancing Revelation

_Part II, Chapter Two_

            "Ames, come on," Mina wheedled, energetically drying her hair. It was evening, a full six hours after the incident with Jaden and Zachary, and Ami still hadn't recovered from her uncharacteristic outburst. After slapping Zach, Mina had sweetly said goodbye to Nevan, Kunthan, and even Jaden. 

            Then she had gone back to the adjourning rooms she and Ami shared to find her friend in a state of shock. She hadn't been willing to listen to reason, so Mina had taken a shower to wash the seawater out of her hair and was currently trying to convince Ami to go to the party that was taking place in a few hours. "You're not going to stay in here and hide the whole night, are you?"

            The nest of covers and pillows moved slightly in protest on the bed. "I'm not hiding," Ami replied, her voice muffled, "I'm avoiding conflict."

            "Some conflicts are not meant to be avoided. Come on, please?" Mina drew out the "please" for a few minutes, assuming a begging stance. 

            A pair of indignant, medium blue eyes emerged, and the look they gave Mina was not at all friendly. "Don't do that!"

            "But Ami...I really want to go this time! You didn't want to go to any of the other parties."

            "So go alone!" Ami emerged completely from her covers and flopped onto her back, staring at the ceiling, trying to ignore her guilty conscience, which was tugging at her unrelentingly. 

            "I don't want to go alone! I wouldn't feel right leaving you here all by yourself!"

            The skeptical look Ami gave her was answer enough.

            Mina decided to try a different tactic. "All right," she said, assuming a defeated expression, "I'm not going to force you to go if you really don't want to–"

            "Good."

            "Because you think you'd be uncomfortable–"

            "I don't think, I _know_," Ami retorted.

            The blonde continued in spite of the interruptions, "But I really wish you would reconsider, Ames."

            With an exasperated sigh, Ami sat up and looked intently at her friend. "Why do you want me to go so badly, anyway?"

            "Because! We're only young once, and I don't want you to end up as some little old lady with creaky joints who's depressed all the time because she never had fun when she was a girl and can't have any now. Um...then. In the future. And it'll be my fault if you do end up that way!"

            "I hate to mention it, but your logic is flawed, Mina."

            "Well, it's my logic and I believe it, so won't you just come to make me feel better?"

            Ami thought for a second and then reached a hand under the bed. Coming up with a book, she smiled a very satisfied smile and said, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't spend my nice, comfortable evening with Poe."

            Mina wrinkled her nose. It was unfortunate that one of her hiding places had been found out. She'd thought Ami was one of those people who never put anything under her bed except the vacuum cleaner. At least Ami's Biology textbook was still well-hidden. "Ami. Poe was a psychopath. A brilliant psychopath, maybe, but his work is creepy and depressive, and I don't want you wasting the night reading about insane killers!"

            Her resolve began crumbling, because she really didn't want to spend the beautiful summer evening reading Poe. Poe's stories were better for dark, cold winter nights when she could be left alone in peace to think melancholy thoughts. Ami also doubted whether anyone had ever been able to say "no" to Mina. "But _he's _going to be there!"

            "What? Who?" she asked in a perfectly innocent tone of voice.

            Her friend glared at her and hissed, "_Zachary_."

            "Oh, him. Well what do you expect? He flirts nonstop; of course he'll be there."

            Suddenly, a familiar voice was heard in the hallway calling their names, and Ami and Mina exchanged a look before they both dashed out to mob Rei. She laughed gaily and threw her arms around them, and for a few moments, they chattered all at once. 

            Eventually, Mina got around to telling her about meeting Zachary (and Jaden) earlier that day, and Rei's reaction was priceless. The only problem was, she agreed with Mina about going to the party, if only so Ami could show she didn't care about what he'd said, and with both of them cajoling and wheedling, Ami couldn't say no...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Which was how she found herself wearing a wispy, light blue, knee-length dress outside of a beach house, looking around in trepidation every few minutes. She kept expecting either Zachary or Jaden, her worst nightmares, to spring out of the encroaching darkness and scare the living daylights out of her. 

            Rei merely winced at the blaring music and amount of trash strewn around. Mock-cheerfully, she said, "Well, at least it's too early for people to be making out outside."

            Mina nudged her with a wicked smile and said, "I think you spoke too soon, Rei. If you'll take a peek to your left, you'll see Jaden Coruni and...is that Ellen Delaney?"

            "From school?" Ami responded automatically, peering into the darkness.

            Looking lost, her cousin asked, "Who's Ellen Delaney?"

            The blond-haired girl smiled serenely. "She transferred after you left. She's goes through at least one new boyfriend per week."

            "Mina, you're exaggerating," Ami hissed, trying to pull them away. Jaden could do whatever he wanted as long as he stayed far away from her. 

            She shrugged, and Rei grinned. "Sounds like Jaden's type of girl, then."

            "Her personality isn't as pretty as her face," a male voice interjected. It was Nevan.

            Rei, who didn't recognize him at first, replied automatically, "All the better. I wish Jaden all the joy of her; they deserve each other."

            The brown-haired guy blinked, and he took a closer look at her. He remembered that sharp tongue from a few years back... "Rei? Rei Hino?"

            "Rei, don't you remember Nevan? From school?" Ami asked when a blank look came over her cousin's face.

            The confused expression cleared instantly. "Oh, right! Sorry Nevan...it's been awhile."

            He smiled. "I'll say. The school's never been the same since you left, you know. No one can put down certain people as well as you could. And did."

            Before long, he asked Rei for a dance, and she accepted. Mina had just started feeling bored when a flash of platinum-blond hair caught her eye. "Look, Ames, it's Kunthan! From this afternoon, remember?" 

            It was the wrong thing to say. Ami's expression darkened, and when Mina waved, smiling brightly at Kunthan, she took one look at his companion and nearly fainted. "Mina, wait, don't–that's Zachary with him!!"

            Unfortunately, the two were already making their way over. She had no choice but to flee.

            "Hey...Mina, right?"

            She nodded, and Zach asked, "Wasn't that Mizuno-Anderson I just saw with you?" When a dangerous gleam came into her eyes and both she and Kunthan glowered at him, he jumped back nervously and amended, "I mean, Ami?"

            Making an effort to smile politely, Mina replied, "I think she went inside." 'When she saw you coming.' "I'd better go find her. Talk to you later."

            Kunthan smiled a rare smile for her, but the minute she was out of earshot, he turned to his friend with an annoyed look on his face. "What did you do that for, Zach? Can't you just leave the poor girl alone? You just ruined my chance to talk to Mina!"

            The coppery-blond-haired guy gave him a strange look. "I didn't know you were interested in her."

            "Yeah, well, that's because you're full of it!" Kun snapped.

            Zach looked very taken aback. He'd been chastised two times in one day, first by a girl he hadn't seen for over seven years and then by his best friend. "Look, I'm sorry, Kun. If it makes you happy, I'll apologize. To both of them."

            "If you're not going to do it of your own free will, don't bother." And Kunthan disappeared inside as well.

            Staring after him bewilderedly, Zach shrugged and waited for Jaden to finish his business with Ellen. "Girls," Zach said in a dismissive tone, "they come and they go. What's the big deal? There are always more of them." He would remember his words later and wonder how he could've ever been so stupid.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Ami found herself being moved through the room almost without any effort on her part. The mass of dancing people was dizzying to her eyes, and the pounding beats of the loud music were giving her a headache. She was too close to the speakers. At least, she consoled herself, it was easy to get lost in the crush of people. 

            It was unfortunate that she had hovered out of sight before going inside; she had stayed long enough to hear Zachary's dismissal of the female race, and anger had charged through her. She felt better only when Rei's irate voice sounded in her mind, a memory from a few hours ago. She'd said, "Some people on this earth are just naturally meant to be idiots, Ami! You shouldn't pay any attention to them. Their sole purpose in life is to convert oxygen to carbon dioxide, and if you ask me, the scarce amount of oxygen left shouldn't be wasted on them!"

            Finding a safe spot near the wall, she tuned out the noise and leaned against its comforting solidity. People like Jaden and Zachary–especially Zachary–confused her. She just couldn't understand why they acted the way they did, and she couldn't decipher the way they thought. Across the way, she caught Rei's glance, and the raven-haired girl smiled at her from over Nevan's shoulder. Just then, Jaden's blond head came into view, and he, Nevan, and Rei exchanged a few words before the brunet left and made his way over to Ami. "What's going on?" she asked curiously as he approached.

            He smiled at her and explained, "Well, Jade popped up and asked Rei for a dance, so I left them to it. Don't they make a nice couple?"

            Ami looked at him as if he was crazy. "Nev. Are you all right? Rei hates him. Or she hates people like him and people like his brother!"

            Nevan sighed. "Ami, he's my friend. Both of them are my friends. I know on the surface, Jaden may seem superficial, or hurtful, or childish and immature, but he's really a nice guy at heart. He just has to grow up a bit more. I can't change the way either of you feel about him, but I wish you'd give him a chance. You not liking Zach I can understand, but I don't want to be caught in the middle of this battle of the sexes."

            His darker blue eyes met her light ones, and after a minute, she let out a deep breath and nodded. "Fine. If you'll ask Zach to be nicer and not make anymore disparaging comments, I'll pretend the whole thing today never happened. And that thing with my bag when we were kids."

            He smiled broadly. "It's a deal. But now that you're feeling less hostile towards him...it was a good prank, wasn't it? I'm not surprised he and Jade were so devious at that age."

            "More like devilish," Ami muttered, but she smiled back. Another guy in the crowd waved to Nevan, and he promised Ami he'd see her later, making his way over to his friend. For a minute, the world was back on track. Then it fell off again...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Hey, Ames...want to dance?"

            'How did he go from calling me Mizuno-Anderson to Ami to Ames all in one day?' Ami's eyes, their color deepened to the dark hue of a shadowed lake by the dim lighting, darted around frantically as she searched for her friends. Rei and Jaden were too far away, Mina and Kunthan were gravitating towards them, and Nevan had disappeared in the crowd.  

            Giving him a cold stare, she found it hard to keep the promise she had just made to Nevan about being civil to his friend. After all, Nevan hadn't conducted the deal yet, she consoled herself, so she wasn't bound to her promise...right? And she was left all alone and defenseless against Zachary, so she said the first thing that came to her mind. "No, I'm sorry Zachary, I don't think so."

            He looked shocked, and Ami resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He acted like he had never been turned down before...but then again, she thought in disgust, it was probably true. Even though his personality was awful, his looks would have been enough to have all the girls at school swooning for him. Zach seemed to be having trouble coming up with a reply, and Ami drew on her newfound courage and arched an icy eyebrow. "Why would you want to dance with the crybaby, Zachary? Or do you think putting up with that is worth it because you think I'm passingly attractive?"

            Zach flushed a deep, sullen red, and he muttered almost as if he couldn't help it, "I think you're more than passingly attractive."

            "Well, thank you, but the only thing that proves is that you have a one track mind."

            He was astonished. "Why do you hate me so much, Ami?"

            It was her turn to be shocked. Clearly, no one had ever bothered to put him in his place. Crossing her arms over her chest, she maintained her distant tone as she replied, "I don't hate you." He smiled–until she said, "I could care less about you, Zachary, because I don't waste my time with people who don't treat me with respect. You're not worth my time."

            Nevan strode up to them just then, completely unaware of the context of their conversation. "Oh–hey Zach...listen, Ames, I've got to go soon, so do you want to dance? Just once?"

            Ami smiled wryly. There were annual closing dances at the school, and Nevan and Mina knew her refusal to dance all too well. But if it would get her away from the jerk who couldn't string two words together to defend himself or understand decent human behavior... "Sure. It was nice talking to you, Zachary. Good bye."

            The brown-haired guy shot his friend a backwards glance but turned to look down at his friend. "What was that all about?"

            "Nothing. Well, actually, everything in Zachary Coruni's world probably revolves around himself," she bit out angrily. It was a slow dance, so she reached up to link her hands behind his neck.

            Not wanting to deal with her temper, being very unused to it, Nev joked, "Well, if he's the one you're mad at, don't I deserve a thank you for rescuing the damsel in distress from the evil dragon?"

            She blushed hotly. "I don't know what's gotten into me today. This is the second time that I've told him off."

            After she finished recounting their little chat, her friend shook his head mournfully. "Ouch. You really gave it to the poor guy, Ames. What were you saying before about giving him a second chance?"

            "I'm sorry, Nev," she apologized sincerely, her head bowed slightly.

            Changing the subject considerately, he asked with a grin, "So is dancing as bad as you expected it to be?"

            The flush deepened, but she answered composedly, "For a social activity, dancing is highly overrated. I stick to slow dances, because they require less movement. All you have to do is sway around a bit. There aren't any rules, per se."

            "I didn't figure you for the type," he commented with an amused smile. This fired up Ami Mizuno-Anderson was interesting. If only she stood up to half the guys at school the way she did to Zach. "So what about Zach do you like?"

            Before she realized what she had said, she replied, "His eyes." Nevan, for all his niceness, quietness, and personal distance, just didn't have Zach's uniquely green eyes. Ami winced. Her cheeks burned furiously, and the smug smile faded from Nevan's face for a minute as he stared at her. 

            Then he smirked openly. "So superficial, Ami. Don't tell me you like him just for his appearance."

            Her dry reply was as such: "Ordinarily, I'd feel guilty, but because I don't like any aspect of his personality, it's a bit hard for me to tell you I like him personality-wise, Nev." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Kunthan was listening avidly to Mina talk, and every so often, he would laugh or add his opinion on the subject. It was unusually warm behavior on his part. Mina looked happier than ever, and that was saying something–Mina always looked happy. 

            But then Kunthan interrupted her tirade by saying, "Stop, stop, I've heard enough. Introduce me to Mina Aino now."

            She looked puzzled and thought she must have misheard. "Sorry, I didn't catch that. Who did you want to be introduced to?"

            "You, Mina. What do you like? What _are_ you like?"

            A bright smile appeared on her face, and she replied, "For starters, I don't give away anything for nothing, Kunthan. If you want me to talk about myself, you're going to have to tell me something about yourself in return." 

            He paused, looking surprised, and the nodded his acquiescence.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Jaden was recounting an anecdote to Rei, who (although doing her best not to show it) was slowly being charmed by him; she told him about her own horror experiences from her first year and semester or so of boarding school. 

            Zach smiled sadly to himself. It was a pity he was alone and without a partner that night...his eyes followed the movement of two couples that looked like they were meant to be. 

            And then there was Ami, who was all alone since Nevan had left. She, too, was watching her friends wistfully.

            Zach's characteristic smirk and lazy manner seemed to have dissolved for the remainder of the night: something about her and the way she was so firmly against him made Zach want to prove that he wasn't a heartless, inconsiderate jerk to her–if it meant she would stop giving him the cold shoulder and such icy, derisive looks. The look in her otherwise marvelous blue eyes chilled the marrow in his bones. Zach was less inclined to act his usual annoying, boisterous self around her, and he wondered why she made him want to feel more like himself, the person he was around Kunthan and Jaden when they were alone. 

            There was a softness to Ami's face when he wasn't near her, and she looked vulnerable and lonely standing alone. So he decided that the next time they met, he would have vastly improved himself by then (he would have to ask Kunthan and Nevan for help)...and maybe he would get more than a faraway glimpse of the princess behind the mask.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

AN: I don't think this chapter is up to par with my other ones, but hopefully the effort was worth it. The first time through (I rewrote it, which was why it took so long to get out), Ami and Zoi actually got to dance, but I decided to return to my original ice-princess scheme for her. I was so shocked when I discovered so many review alerts in my inbox for this story! Thanks a lot, everyone! ^^ I really appreciate it and hope you all stick around for the next parts (we're moving on to Part Three next, the "older" teenagers).

            ~Ice

P.S. Please forgive the erratic flow...I know it's a bit odd to switch from part to part, since they're years apart, but time will slow down soon, and Part III will be quite long. Almost all of the characters will be there, and _all_ of them will return in Part V, which returns to the beach ^^. Part IV is set at Ami's house...


	4. Icy Reception

_Part III, Chapter One_

            Ami was sitting by herself on the train home from school; the seat next to her was empty. She was excited to be returning home for winter break. Usually Mina went with her, but she was spending the holidays this year with Kunthan and his family. After they had met at the beach several years ago, they had really hit off during the short time they'd spent together (Ami had mainly stayed with Nevan...and Rei and Jaden. The latter two had started their infamous on-and-off relationship there, and surprisingly, Zach had kept considerately out of her way. But she didn't think about him much if she could help it).

            Mina and Kunthan had lost touch after the summer vacation, but they had met again approximately one year ago and, after a few dates, begun serious dating. Kunthan wasn't as stiff as he looked once you got to know him; he really was rather sweet and dependable. Not exactly the guy Ami had envisioned Mina going for, but then again, Mina had always had interesting tastes. She seemed perfectly content with Kunthan, and he never had eyes for anyone except her.

            Ruefully, Ami thought that there must be some mysterious, attractive forces at work, making them fated to run into each other over and over again. If they had radar, they would be picking up each others' signals much more often that she would've liked. 

            Rei and Jaden, on the other hand, were a different story than Mina and Kunthan's (basically) steady relationship. Their schools were in close proximity, and half the time Rei was fighting with him and declaring herself done with him forever, but the other half of the time, they were a normal, happy couple–sort of. 

            It was impressive, Ami noted wryly to herself, that Rei had managed to keep Jaden interested in her for so long. According to Nev (who had heard it from Zachary, who knew about it firsthand), Jaden's habitual switching of girlfriends had been legend until Rei had come along. Ami was happy for her cousin, and if there existed a tiny part of her innermost self that wanted the same kind of happiness (minus the routine fighting and break ups), she wasn't aware of it...really. 

            There had been a guy just her age at boarding school who had been pursuing her–sort of. That is, Greg had plainly been interested in her...before he'd been expelled for cheating. Ami decided that it was lucky she hadn't gotten too fond of him, even though his messy brown hair and deep brown eyes had been attractive, in a way. She preferred light-colored eyes herself (i.e. blue or green. Preferably the latter, because they were rarer). Nevertheless, her experiences in life had just proven to her what she had always known since age seven, when she'd first met Zachary Coruni: men were an unfathomable, alien race not to be trusted. 

            She brushed aside her midnight dark bangs and smiled at the snowflakes falling outside the window. Ami loved snow; winter had always been her favorite season. There was something poetic, melancholy, and very soothing about watching snow fall... The flakes seemed to glide so gracefully down to earth, sometimes being dashed down by the wind every which way, sometimes drifting lazily past. She wanted to attain that kind of grace; the only time she had seen any semblance of it in humans was when they danced or ice-skated. 

            Shaking herself out of her daydreams, Ami smiled brightly at the falling snow, as if she shared a secret with those delicate flakes. Rei was already home, and her parents had been talking about a nice, cozy holiday spent at home. It was fortunate that she'd managed to finish all her shopping and homework already. There would be no surprises for her this winter break; she planned to spend it catching up with Rei and curled up before the fireplace with a stack of books she'd been wanting to read for some time and a steaming mug of hot cocoa...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            That night at dinner, Richard Anderson broke some surprising news while his wife, Kira Mizuno, served them all. "I know we talked about spending the holidays at home, but doesn't that sound sort of boring and uneventful?"

            Rei had a horrified look on her face, and Ami felt a feeling of foreboding come over her. She didn't want to know what was coming next...why hadn't Rei warned her that her parents were up to something?

            "Actually, Uncle Richard, it would be so much nicer if we had some peace and quiet at home." As her uncle and aunt's faces fell, Rei sighed deeply and submitted to the inevitable. "But of course, now that you mention it, it does sound rather–boring." 'That is, if boring meant "too good to be true."'

            "So...um...where are we going?" Ami ventured cautiously.

            Her mother beamed happily as she replied, "Oh, Ami, of course you know the Corunis. We thought it might be nice, since we're such good friends, to attend their holiday gala. It's only for three days, and there'll be a big party–and a ball–the last night. They host a winter celebration every year, and we've never attended one; can you imagine that? And we all get along so well! I can't imagine what we were thinking. Don't look so disappointed, Ami; you can spend the rest of the break any way you want. And think how many eligible young men you could meet? Don't you want to see Jaden and Zachary again? They're such nice, charming young men! "

            Ami tried hard but couldn't quite repress her incredulous look. The power of speech simply failed her at the moment, and all her beautiful plans melted away before her eyes. She was spending three entire days residing in the house of the self-centered, sexist jerk who would make those three days a living hell for her and...

            "Rei, it'll be the perfect opportunity for you to make things up with Jaden, " suggested Richard helpfully to his niece. 

            Rei, unprepared for this comment, choked on her chicken. She spit it out discreetly in her napkin, and the look on her face mirrored Ami's.

            "Christmas is such a romantic holiday!" her aunt agreed, sealing her fate as her eyes went dreamy, "the tree, the decorations, the mistletoe..."

            Well. Rei and Jaden having broken up wasn't exactly a novelty, but Ami was surprised that Rei hadn't told her right away. Usually she wanted to rage and complain, but this time, she had kept quiet about it, which meant that it was probably a big disagreement. "Um...we're not celebrating Christmas at home?" was the safest question that came her mind. It was a better alternative to "What was it this time?".

            Her mother sent a shocked look and a plate of broccoli in her direction. "Of course not, Ami. That's the whole purpose of the extravaganza! We'll spend the morning together, of course; the Corunis are very considerate. Then the highlight of the party will proceed at night, and we'll all leave in the morning!"

            Ami hadn't known that Zachary, who was surely included in the Coruni family, possessed the word "considerate" in his vocabulary.

            "So what do you think?" Richard asked, smiling jovially.

            Ami and Rei sent each other a desperate look, but Rei smiled painfully first and replied, "I think it sounds really...great, Uncle Richard. I...can't wait." It was bad enough that she hadn't attended the boarding school they picked out for her and worse that she refused to make social calls...she knew they had defended her against the snobs that were against her Japanese heritage. She might as well do something for them in return–even if it killed her.

            All three of them turned expectantly to Ami. "Um–yeah, me too," she said awkwardly. 'I hate the holidays. I hate my life. I changed my mind–winter is no longer my favorite season. Autumn and spring are much more harmless, and they don't have these annoying seasonal celebrations and romantic nuances–okay, so spring does... But autumn's the dying month–sometimes.' Her mind stopped contradicting itself, and the only thought it could present her with was a wail of 'Zachary Coruni?? Why does it have to be him? Why couldn't it be someone who actually has brain cells–or someone who actually uses them for something besides ogling girls?'.

            Meantime, Rei was glowering at her alfalfa sprouts and absentmindedly ladling gravy over her broccoli, entirely missing the chicken. 'I knew it was too good to be true.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            A few days later, Ami was in the middle of her packing when her mother knocked on the door. Kira entered and sat down on the bed next to the half-filled suitcase. Instantly, Ami felt a rush of anxiety wash over her: her mother had that look of "We're going to have a serious talk, no matter what" on her face. 

            She sat down on a nearby chair and braced herself for whatever was coming at her...but it wasn't what she expected.

            "Ami, honey, I know you aren't too happy about going to the Corunis' party, but I can't understand why. Do you want to talk about it?"

            She flushed dully and began twisting her fingers together nervously. Before she could come up with a suitable excuse, she blurted out, "I don't like Zachary, and spending three days with him is going to be absolutely intolerable!"

            Her mother was very taken aback by Ami's outburst. Usually, her daughter was meek, obedient, and very composed. Actually, she sort of liked the refreshing change, even though she'd had long experience with Rei's occasional temperamental fits. "But I thought you'd never seen him before, Ami."

            "I met him at the beach when I was seven, and he was awful!"

            "Oh, right." She smiled fondly at the memory, even though Ami was fuming. "He was such an adorable child!"

            "He was a devil child!" she countered fiercely before she could stop herself.

            Kira sighed–of all the times for her daughter to be difficult, it had to be tonight. "Well, boys will be boys. He's much older now."

            She repressed the urge to roll her eyes. 'Personally, I think I actually preferred his seven year old self, when his mentality fit his physical age.' "I don't think it's possible for him to grow up. I met him..maybe three years ago...at the beach, when Rei met Jaden–again."

            "And what did you think of him?" her mother asked eagerly.

            "He's an incorrigible, shameless flirt!"

            "Oh." Kira's enthusiasm deflated for a moment, but then she perked up again. "But this means you think he's attractive, even if you don't like him?"

            Ami looked at her mother as if she'd gone mad. Quickly, she explained, "There are hundreds–thousands–of vain, egotistical jerks, mum. Zachary Coruni is one of them. I don't have to think he's good-looking to know that he flirts with anything that looks remotely feminine."

            "Oh, _Ami_...I'll admit he may not be as handsome as Jaden, but he's still such a good catch! He's always so polite and charming. Try and give him a chance, Ami," she urged.

            Funny how this conversation sounded so familiar...when was it? Ah, yes–when Nevan had persuaded her to give Zach a chance. Well, that had turned out swell. Suspiciously, Ami asked, "Why are you so interested in us getting along?"

            Instantly, her mother became tongue-tied and started fiddling around with the nicknacks on her shelves. Among the items were some pearly, iridescent shells and a worn blue ribbon. Ami pursued the subject relentlessly until she gave in, throwing up her hands in defeat. "Fine, fine. I'll tell you: you know how important it is that you marry someone who's, well...appropriate. Of course, your father and I want you to marry someone you love, but we'd like him to be financially well-off and with a good career. Zachary's going to a very prestigious university next year, and I've heard that his grades are wonderful. He's quite the catch among the young ladies; they're all mad for him. He's the perfect gentleman."

            This time, Ami did roll her eyes. It figured; he must be in seventh heaven, with all the girls chasing after him. It probably wouldn't matter to him whether they were after his name or his money; most likely, he just wanted a beautiful girl who would adore him to the point of idolization. She shuddered at the thought. "If you want a stronger link with the Corunis, mum, aren't Rei and Jade good enough?" 

            Immediately, her mother went on the defensive. "This isn't about business deals, Ami! Is that what you think this is? We just want you to consider Zach...you could see if you like him or not. It's been three years since you saw him, after all."

            Ami felt a headache rapidly coming on, so she agreed to the rest of her mother's demands without really listening. As soon as Kira left, she threw herself onto her bed and closed her eyes, reveling in the peace. A second later, another knock sounded on the door, and she groaned. Who was coming to torture her now?

            "Well, that's a really nice way to greet your best friend," Rei teased, tossing a pillow at her cousin's head. "What happened? I saw Aunt Kira leaving your room looking all excited and bright-eyed. What could possibly have happened that's better than you having one of the highest GPAs at that nasty, stuck-up school of yours?" she asked playfully.

            "Ugh," she muttered into her pillow, then sat up to complain. "Mum's suddenly been struck with the urge to play matchmaker. She hasn't a clue what to do about you and Jade, but she's decided that Zachary Coruni, the ultimate gift to all womenkind, of course–"

            "Of course," Rei smirked, trying to keep a straight face.

            "She wants me to marry him!"

            "What?!"

            Ami flushed slightly, thumping her pillow in agitation. "She didn't say that, but it's her eventual plan. For the moment, she wants me to decide if I like him or not. She gave me the entire rundown on where he's going to college, how many girls are chasing after him, how charming he is, how well-mannered, etc., etc. I'm surprised she's not referring to him as her son-in-law yet."

            Rei patted her on the shoulder comfortably. "Oh, come on, Ames. No one's going to make you marry him. Your mother just wants you to be happy. She hasn't had a very easy life, with everyone being prejudiced and whatnot, so she's determined that you have everything she didn't. I don't have a chance, because everyone hates me already–but the feeling's mutual. Besides, you're her daughter and her only child. So you're going to have to talk to him–briefly," she added hastily when she saw Ami's eyes widen in panic, "and you might have to dance with him if he asks you..."

            "What? I'm not dancing with him! I'm not even going _near _him if I can help it!"

            She smiled wryly. "If it's any consolation, I think the crowd of girls around him is going to be so thick that he might just be stuck with them all night. You know him and Jaden both–you can tell they're related by how attracted they are to women."

            She turned her face into her pillow and laughed. "So maybe it won't be as bad as we think."

            "No...it'll be worse."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            The next morning, Ami found herself clumping morosely to the doorway of the Corunis' mansion, with its pristine white pillars and imposing size. The place looked amazing, and the recent blanket of snow only added to the residence's charm. For a moment, Ami was caught up in a fantasy of princes, princesses, and balls, but it was instantly dispelled when she remembered her foe: Zachary Coruni was no prince. He was more like an evil wizard–and she was trapped in his tower for the next three days. How was she ever going to survive?

            Aileen Coruni was standing at the door, ready to receive them, and she hugged all of them enthusiastically. She and Kira began chattering away, and Richard was drawn into the parlor, where several of his colleagues were talking. Just then, two blond-haired men appeared in the foyer, and Ami swallowed hard as her gaze settled upon the second one. Jaden was very familiar to her, of course. He wasn't the one that was fazing her so...nope, it was just her luck that in her opinion, Zachary had to be the most gorgeous guy ever to exist...he was second only to Einstein in his youth, of course, but then again, Einstein was dead and Zach was not. Fervently, she wished it was the other way around. 

            Zach's hair was several shades darker than it had been three summers ago; it was a coppery color now, long and tied back in a ponytail. His wonderful, emerald green eyes were still as dazzling as ever, and she hated him for it. Ami was extremely aware that she was still standing in her thick, puffy jacket and that her bangs were wet and plastered to her forehead–and that she, having had extremely bad luck in the gene pool, was several inches shorter than Rei. Zach and Jaden towered over her by at least a head. 

            The moment he saw her, Zach knew who she was. His mother beckoned them forward happily, and he obeyed immediately. Jade followed suit sulkily, his effervescent smile fading. Aileen beamed as they greeted Mrs. Mizuno and Rei politely...sort of. Her smile faded slightly when Jaden muttered something incoherent and impersonal to Rei, whose eyes were fixed on the ground. She nodded politely, and they stepped away from each other as quickly as possible. His smile was more genuine as he greeted Ami cordially, and then...it was Zach's turn. 

            Aileen's smile was back and brighter than ever as she introduced them. "Ami, do you remember my son Zach? Zach, this is Ami Mizuno-Anderson...you used to play together at the beach."

            Evidently, it was the wrong thing to say. Ami's tentative expression changed to one of complete remoteness, and Zach grinned devilishly. Smoothly, he said, "Oh, right. I remember Ami very well. You've grown up."

            She wanted to kill him, and more importantly, she wanted to smack the smug smile off his face like Mina had done before, but she merely held out her hand for him to shake. With an icy smile on her face, she answered Mrs. Coruni, "I remember Zachary, too. I regret to say that you haven't changed." Her ending address was cold, but it didn't seem to deter him in the least.

            As they all watched (Kira and Aileen looking very proud of themselves and as if they were already envisioning their grandchildren, and Rei and Jaden feeling nervous and ill-at-ease), he took her hand–but instead of shaking it and releasing it, he lifted it towards his lips. Ami watched in horror, but she seemed to have lost control of her motor nerves: her mind was screaming at her hand to yank itself away, but for some reason, the treacherous hand wasn't obeying. She felt his warm breath on her skin–which, strangely enough, was not exactly an unpleasant sensation but a rather unnerving one–and then her hand was falling back to her side, no longer in his firm grip.

            Zach's eyes were dancing with fiendish delight, of course. It was the proper type of greeting...from about a hundred years ago. It hadn't been appropriate for there to be an actual kiss, of course...it just looked like one. His lips hand never touched her hand–but he wished they had. Next time, he promised himself. Ami's cheeks were burning scarlet, and he admired the color. He smirked widely as his mother, looking faint with happiness but a little shocked at his audacity, motioned Rei and Ami upstairs. Rei eyed him suspiciously as she dragged Ami away. For a minute, the cool facade had slipped away. She looked stunned. Unfortunately, her mask was back in full force as she glared at him disdainfully with all the hauteur of an ice queen. Oh yes, it was going to be an extraordinarily amusing three days for him...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

AN: Let me introduce you to the "new and improved" Zach! ^.~ Not quite what we expected...but don't worry, he's not completely shallow or evil. Well, expect things to move fast between Ami and Zach, but we must slow down time a bit to allow for much-needed character development. For those of you who are not as dedicated to Ami/Zoi as I am, here are the characters included in this part of the story: Darien, Serena, Rei, Jade, and Nephrite. (Please, no requests for Lita. We're not ready to have everyone together yet! Wait until next time for her!! And I promise, absolutely everyone will make an appearance in the last part.) Thank you for the reviews, everyone! I really appreciate them so much :)

            ~Ice


	5. Up Close and Personal

_Part III, Chapter Two_

            Wearing a black skirt and a pretty, ice-blue sweater, Ami was being escorted through the house by Aileen and Jaden. Rei, of course, had been there several times, so she was sitting with her parents and Derick Coruni in the conservatory; Kira, who enjoyed gardening, had agreed to look at one of the Corunis' newly-imported plants that was doing poorly. 

             It was just her luck that the Corunis, wishing to spend extra time with the Andersons, had asked them to come a day earlier than all the other guests. The men that Ami's dad had been conversing with before had just dropped by for a brief business meeting with Derick Coruni, and there was no one besides the servants in the house...and they went home directly after dinner was served. 

            Ami was dreading any future encounters she would have with Zach–it was too optimistic to hope that they wouldn't have much of an opportunity to talk. If their parents had been younger, they probably would have resorted to locking them in a basement and turning the lights off.

            She had only seen the formal dining room and several sitting rooms when Jaden suggested to his mother with an all-too-innocent look in his eyes, "Why don't we show Ami the library?"

            Aileen Coruni's eyes lit up instantly. "What a wonderful idea! Rei says you love reading," she said to Ami, who nodded weakly, glancing nervously at Jaden. He grinned at her devilishly as he led the way through the halls with a spring in his step. 

            Ami was hopelessly lost by the time they reached the massive wooden doors, their handles polished to a bright gold shine. She wondered how she would be able to find her way back to the bedroom that would be hers for the next three days...

            "Zach spends so much of his time here," Aileen gushed, "it's his favorite room, apart from the greenhouse and his own room, of course."

            She was flabbergasted. Zachary Coruni, reading? She'd believe it when she saw it. 

            Jaden grinned at her. "Mom, don't you think we'd better be getting back? You know Dad bores everyone to death within ten minutes when he starts getting into politics."

            "Jade! Don't be impertinent," Aileen reprimanded absentmindedly, checking her watch. "Would you like to go in, Ami, or come back with us?"

            "I...I think I'll stay here, thanks," she said with a shy smile.

            Aileen bustled off, but Jaden stayed an extra minute, holding open one of the double doors for her and ushering her in. He winked at Ami. "Have a nice time, Ames."

            "Thanks..." she replied, feeling nervous all of a sudden. She walked over the soft burgundy carpet, admiring the rows and rows of bookshelves. She was in seventh heaven here, and she couldn't wait to begin perusing the shelves. The room had a large dome of glass that served as part of the ceiling, like a humongous skylight, and Ami smiled happily at the falling snow. She would be safe in this refuge.

            Humming contentedly, she browsed through the labyrinth of shelves. After a few minutes, she drew a book off a shelf–and looked straight into Zach's leaf-green eyes. She gasped, dropped the book, and stepped back while he grinned at her. 

            "Well, hello there, Ami. Fancy meeting you here," he drawled.

            "I–I...I didn't know you'd be here," she stammered, then mentally kicked herself for blurting out such a stupid statement. 

            Unfortunately, her startled floundering seemed to delight the devil's incarnate standing before her. He crossed around the bookshelf to stand in the same row as her. "Looking for something?" he inquired sweetly, holding out the forgotten book to her.

            Her nerveless fingers clutched the book instinctively, and she backed away from him. "Yes–thank you," she whispered.

            "Well, you've got your reading, and I have mine," he said, holding up his own book. "There are some armchairs over there by the fire. Why don't you join me?"

            Ami was so flustered that she couldn't think of a polite way to refuse, and her eyes lit on the doors–her escape–beseechingly. At last, she followed him meekly over to the chairs and sat down. Its plush cushions enveloped her immediately, and Zach stifled a laugh as he arranged himself across from her. 

            She looked adorable; her little face, with its delicate features, seemed to be sticking out of the armchair that was swallowing her. He put his legs up on the coffee table casually and proceeded to pretend to be immersed in the tome. Ami also opened her book, but she stayed on the same page for several minutes, reading the same sentence over and over. She couldn't concentrate with Zach sitting directly across from her, and she was too afraid to look up at him. Thus, she was unaware that his gaze kept returning to her.

            Zach turned another page, smiling to himself. She really was too adorable for words. He wondered when she would realize that she was trying to read the book, which was written in English, the way one might read a Chinese or Hebrew volume. 

            But he finally had the chance to scrutinize her, and he decided he would wait a few more minutes before embarrassing her. He'd gotten one good look at her in the foyer, but she had disappeared upstairs almost immediately. He observed, closely, the way her bangs almost formed a heart shape in the middle and how the firelight brought out exotic blue lights in her hair. He wondered how the shy, reserved girl had had the nerve to highlight her hair, because surely, they couldn't be natural. He had never seen hair like hers. 

            Zach's eyes moved to the rest of her face next. Her eyes were a beautiful, unique light blue, the color of a sun-dappled lake. Her lashes were dark and irresistibly long, and her mouth made him want to just take her in his arms and kiss the living daylights out of her. But Zach sighed quietly and forced himself to move on. It was too bad, he thought, that she wasn't the type to wear short skirts. Her legs (the portion he could see) were just as good–if not better–than they were when he'd complimented them two or three years ago. Zach smiled inwardly. She was beautiful, and more importantly, she would be an interesting challenge. 

            He met her on different terms now. He was all grown up, more suave, more charming...and he knew how to deal with women–_all_ women. Ami couldn't be that different from the average girl, he mused. Her shyness just made the game even more appealing, and her quick change from ice queen to blushing schoolgirl was astonishing. Zach knew he had to make sure he didn't really fall for her, but the enigmatic air surrounding her intrigued him.

            Finally, he cleared his throat. "How's your book?" he asked.

            "It's...um....great."

            "I didn't know you could read upside-down and starting at the end."

            Ami turned as red as a tomato, and she immediately turned the book around and to the front cover. "Yes...it's–it's an acquired skill. Very difficult, actually."

            "I see," he replied, smirking widely. "So tell me about yourself," he suggested, stretching and yawning, setting down his book.

            She was regaining her composure at last, so she merely arched a skeptical eyebrow. "Maybe you could be a little more specific."

            Damn. He'd been hoping to get more amusement out of her deer-caught-in-headlights moment. Well, maybe he'd be able to catch her off guard again. "Oh, I don't know," he replied nonchalantly. "Are you looking forward to the ball coming up?"

            Privately, Ami thought she would rather face any number of mathematical and scientific exams–and she would probably enjoy them, too–than go to the ball. Pasting a polite smile on her face, she replied evasively, "The winter social season is always one of the most interesting ones." 'It's also the most painful one,' she sighed inwardly.

            "Maybe you'd be more willing to dance with me this time," he suggested.

            Her face reddened again, but she managed to say, "If you'd like to."

            "It would be my pleasure." Deciding to let the subject drop for the moment, since she had basically agreed to his proposal, he told her, "Mother's been struck with the most brilliant idea. She wants to have everything wonderfully old-fashioned and romantic. She's thinking of making everyone our age go with a date." Zach grinned at her. His mother hadn't thought of any such thing...yet. He would make sure that he passed the thought along to her. "You know all of the parents will love they idea...they can't wait to match-make their kids as it is."

            Ami paled. It was the worst news she had heard all winter break...even worse than when her parents had told her they were coming here, even worse than when she had realized there was an entire day she had to spend with the Corunis before any other families arrived to rescue her from this cleverly-disguised version of hell. 

            Her mother would murder her if she didn't come up with a date to go to the gala with, especially if it was made a rule, and she knew who Kira Mizuno had in mind. He was sitting right before her, looking incredibly smug and sure of himself. She hated him, and she wondered why he was torturing her so. "Excuse me," she said abruptly, "I have to use the restroom."

            "There's one right outside."

            She pushed open the door and took several deep breaths, then turned slowly to the right. There were seven other doors in the hall...and she wasn't about to open each and every single of them, was she?

            Suddenly, she felt warm hands placed on her shoulders, turning her around. As if that wasn't bad enough, she nearly jumped out of her skin when he spoke right by her ear, his warm breath sending tingling sensations across her skin and down her spine. 

            "The bathroom is that way," Zach told her, removing one of his hands to point out a specific door.

            Ami stammered a thank you and rushed into the room, making sure it was securely locked before she turned to look at herself in the mirror. She turned on the faucet, cupped her hands under the cool flow, and splashed some water on her face, which felt like it was on fire. She was surprised that her skin hadn't burned off with the amount of embarrassment he had caused her within the first four hours of her stay.

            Her fingers were icy cold as she pressed them against her cheeks, but their coldness only reminded her of the heat of his hands and breath. They had seemed abnormally warm, and she shrugged her shoulders in discomfort, trying to get rid of the sensation of his touch.

            Maybe he had a fever, she decided. Yes, that would explain thing. Her mind reveled in having found a logical explanation for his alarming behavior, and she smiled confidently at her reflection as the color faded from her skin. All she would have to do was attribute any strange statements he said to some sickness or other...and she could disregard any abnormalities in his behavior.

            And, she told herself sternly, she was not going to think he was attractive. Not in the least. He wasn't even good-looking... 'No,' her mind sighed, 'he's breathtakingly gorgeous, and even you can't help but admit it. And he's not even acting like a jerk...only extremely intimidating...bordering on dangerously charming.' She moaned in despair and hit her head lightly against the door.

            "Ami? Are you all right in there?"

            Judging by the proximity of his voice, he was standing right outside the door, and she spent a few seconds panicking before she got herself under control again. "I'm fine," she replied, running her hands through her silken hair distractedly. Was her forehead a little red from its collision with the door? 'Remember, Ami, he's delusional. Other than that, he's completely harmless...right?' She took a deep breath and pulled open the door. 

            Zach was leaning to one side of the door, smiling at her in a way that made her want to turn and check if there was someone behind her. He'd been a little worried about her after hearing the dull thud, wondering if he'd come on a bit too strongly, but when he saw her determined expression, he knew he shouldn't have been–she was tougher than she looked. But he decided to give her a break..for the time being.

            "Look, there's something I want to show you," he said, beckoning to her as he started down the hall.

            She wavered uncertainly, unsure of what nasty shock he could have in store for her. "I–isn't it about time for dinner? We don't want to be late."

            "Come on," he coaxed, "you'll like it. Trust me. Besides–do you know how to get to the informal dining room from here?"

            Color flooded her face once again, and he grinned at her. He mused to himself, 'Maybe Mizuno-Anderson can be just like all the other girls...you just have to know which buttons to push.' But his traitorous heart added, 'If she seems the same to you, why can't you take your eyes off her?' 

            He grabbed her arm, tugging her along gently. Again, his touch seemed unusually warm, and she blushed slightly.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Ami's cerulean blue eyes were huge as she stared at the aquatic paradise before her. She knew the Corunis were extremely rich–richer than most of the people they associated with, including her family–and she usually thought money could be put towards better things than personal luxuries...but for once, she was absolutely enchanted by what it could create, when paid to the proper people.

            The first thing that had caught her eye was the Olympic-sized pool, which was not rectangular but shaped like a crescent moon. Cradled in its curve was a large whirlpool that resembled a many pointed star; its vertices ideal locations for seats. It bubbled and steamed invitingly, but the cool, sapphire-colored water, which was emphasized by the soft blue lights placed at regular intervals, had a stronger pull on her. 

            There were skylights in the ceiling, but because the sun set early in the winter, the room was darkened. As her eyes adjusted, Ami noticed the tropical plants placed throughout the room. The brilliant, multi-colored flowers caught her eye, and she thought they would have suited Rei wonderfully. She turned to Zach, her eyes alight with dreamy enchantment, an enormous smile on her face.

            Zach's breath caught as he stared at her. The incandescent lights brought out the blue lights in her hair again, and she almost seemed to be glowing. The only sound that could be heard was the continuous, soothing sound of water, but he thought the pounding of his heart was loud enough to drown it out. 

            They were so close to each other, and when she looked up at him, he knew she was the most innocent girl his age that he had ever seen. For once, the suspicion and caution was absent from her gaze, and she seemed completely at ease. He wanted–badly–to touch her, to kiss her, and he couldn't understand why. He was used to initiating relationships with girls he didn't know very well, but Ami had been here for less than a day, and he was inexplicably drawn to her. It was more than a little frightening for him, and he stepped back.

            Ami's eyes were wide, and she had no idea what was running through his mind at the moment...but for some reason, she felt a small twinge of disappointment. Trying to reorient herself, she asked, "How did you know–that I liked to swim?"

            His grin was back, with its reckless edge, but it was just Ami's imagination that it lit up the room... "Oh, Rei mentioned it once or twice," he said offhandedly. "I hear you're the star swimmer of your school team."

            She shook her head quickly, feeling embarrassed but also oddly pleased. "No...I'm really not that good. But I do enjoy swimming."

            His emerald eyes were intense as he invited, "You're welcome to use the pool anytime, Ami."

            "Are you sure? Would anyone mind?"

            He flashed her another heart-stopping grin. "I wouldn't mind showing you how to get here...but yes, I'm positive that no one will mind." 

            Something had changed between them those few breathless minutes that she had first turned to him, her face and spirit uplifted, but neither of them were willing to explore the change at the moment. 

            However, an awkwardness had sprung up, and he looked at his watch. He sighed. "We're late for dinner..."

            'And everyone's going to get the wrong impression!' her mind screamed.

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AN: Now, this doesn't really constitute as a cliffhanger, does it? ^.~


	6. Heart to Hearts

_Part III, Chapter Three_

            "Where were you?" Rei hissed as Ami slid into the chair next to her.

            Ami shook her head firmly, indicating that they would talk later. Jaden was grinning roguishly, looking extremely proud of himself. Her father was looking at her with raised eyebrows, the surprise evident on his face. It must have been the first time in her life that his neat, overly-organized daughter was late. 

            Her mother, however, was looking like the cat that ate the canary. She was beaming at Ami and Zach, and Ami wanted to slide under the table, overcome with humiliation, when Aileen asked Zach where _he and Ami_ had been. The emphasis on _he and Ami_ was heavily unsubtle, and despite her stern tone, Aileen, too, was smiling as she enjoyed the spectacle. 

            'Smart boy,' Kira Mizuno thought to herself, 'if only Ami had his sense.' 

            Ami had much more sense than Zach, but she couldn't even listen to his answer, she was so embarrassed. But she was well aware of that fact that he basically ignored her during the entire meal, despite the fact that he was sitting diagonal to her. He never addressed her; he never even looked her way. 'Was it something I said?' she wondered. 'Was it something did?' 

            Then she did the mental equivalent of tossing her head, and the shy, delicate lily of a girl retreated into the ice statuette. 'He was only playing around,' she reminded herself, 'and you'd better be on your guard. Give him the cold shoulder and ignore him before he gets that idea that you're just like all the other girls he flirts with!'

            Her acute embarrassment increased when, on her way to the music room, Jaden motioned for her to walk with him. They trailed behind the others, and Rei kept looking back at them suspiciously. 

            "Did you have a nice time with Zach this afternoon?" He smiled innocently as she glared menacingly at him.

            Through gritted teeth, she hissed, "It was all your fault! You knew he was in the library, and you left me there–_alone_–with him!!"

            He pretended to be shocked. "Why, Ami, I didn't know you were so fond of me!"

            She continued to glower at him for a few minutes, but his smile was infectious. She had discovered, after spending a large amount of time with him on Rei's behalf, that he wasn't really as bad as he'd seemed. He might be a joker three-fourths of the time, but the other one-fourth of the time, when he was willing to have serious conversation, he wasn't so bad. 

            And not everyone, she smiled wryly, could be as serious as she was. Both her father and Rei kept reminding her of the fact. Jaden wasn't as tricky and underhanded as Zach seemed to be, for another thing. His intentions were pretty much out in the open, and he was dependable, for the most part. But some perverse aspect of his nature always seemed to be setting off Rei's fiery temper. 

            They entered the music room, and Ami took a seat next to Rei. The room was brightly lit, and the light-colored wood floor shone golden. The shelves were full of books and sheet music, and the CDs on the racks all seemed to be classical. She allowed herself a small smile of amusement–she hadn't figured Jaden and Zachary for the classical type. 

            The first thing that had caught her attention, however, had been the grand piano. She hadn't played in years, as lessons were hard to keep up at boarding school, but she _had_ taken lessons during her childhood. Even though she was academically-focused, she did regret her lack of musical accomplishment. She wondered who in the Coruni family played–Aileen, maybe. She looked at the blond-haired woman expectantly, but her gaze was focused on her son.

            "Why don't you play something for us, Zach?" she suggested.

            Ami's mouth opened slightly. He could play the piano?! Impossible!

            His leaf-green eyes fixed on Ami's boldly, but he looked a little sheepish as he stood up. "I don't know..." He looked towards Jaden beseechingly. "Jade, you want to go first?"

            "Can't–sorry, mate." He held up his arm and pushed back his sleeve, revealing the tan-colored bandage on his wrist.

            Zach glared at him. He'd sprained his wrist a week ago...and he'd caught Jaden pounding out "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" just last night. He'd teased him shamelessly about his affection for Disney movies, but he wasn't the least bit amused now. 

            His hands descended upon the keys gracefully, and Ami held her breath in anticipation of the first silvery note.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Ami? Ami, are you awake?" someone whispered in the dark.

            She rolled her, her eyes squinched shut against the light that streamed into her room. Someone had opened the door a crack, and it took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust. "Rei?" she asked uncertainly.

            She had retreated to her room directly after Zach's musical performance, having given polite but impersonal praise of his playing. Once she was safely inside her haven, Ami had done some schoolwork, bent on getting it done if her winter vacation was going to be as unproductive as it promised. Her thoughts, however, had kept drifting back to the gala, which was looming ever closer, and the previous events of the day. At last, Ami had drifted off into the realms of sleep for a brief respite, but it seemed that someone was bent on pulling her out of her misty dreamscape.

            Her head cleared as her cousin glided into the room and closed the door. Ami sat up and motioned for her to sit on the bed next to her...it was a humongous four-poster, and she was amazed that the house, big as it was, would hold all the people the Corunis would be inviting for the gala. She had been surprised that she and Rei weren't sharing a room. 

            "Who did you think it would be, Zach?" she asked sarcastically.

            Ami flushed darkly before she composed herself. "_No_, of course not," she replied.

            "Uh huh." Rei's tone was skeptical. 

            With Rei, she knew she could drop the icy demeanor, but really...

            "I didn't figure you as his type," she said bluntly.

            "Why not?" slipped out of her mouth before she could help it, and Ami slid into the covers, burying her face.

            Rei fumbled around for the light switch, figuring it was almost in the same position as the one by her bed. When the light was on, she grimaced as her eyes readjusted. "Okay, time to spill, girl," she ordered.

            Her voice was muffled as she remarked, "You know, you sounded remarkably like Mina just then..."

            "That's not getting you off the hook. Where _were_ you all afternoon? I mean, I know you were with Zach part of the time, because you came in to dinner–late–together. What was that all about, Ames?"

            "Nothing."

            "Do you like him, Ami?"

            She emerged from the covers, blinking rapidly. "No!! He's annoying, arrogant, full of himself, and a complete waste of my time..."

            Rei smiled to herself. It took either an asshole or an extremely interesting guy to get Ami so worked up (usually, she shrugged off the idiocy or the good looks without comment). In this case, Rei thought the guy was both. "Is that so? You did like his piano playing, didn't you?"

            "Yes." Again, her traitorous mouth had answered. It was in conspiracy with her heart, and so far, they were one step ahead of her mind. Ami sighed. Lately, she'd been having much more trouble keeping her calm than usual...but Zach's choice of a piece had been...intriguing. She adored the song, which had been Pachelbel's _Canon in D_, but she hadn't thought that it was his type of song. It was strange that they had similar tastes... She resisted the urge to bang her head against the nightstand. One song didn't imply the same interests, of course. 

            Rei's smile grew wider, but it disappeared immediately when Ami asked, to get the spotlight off herself, "So...are you going to tell me about what's going on with you and Jaden?"

            "Fair is fair. If you tell me about Zach, I'll tell you about Jade."

            She paused for a moment to consider and then nodded. "You first."

            Rei made a face at her but started speaking anyway. "I knew about the gala a long time ago...so he joked about us ditching the parties together, but I told him it was time that I started trying to get used to these kinds of things and that your parents wouldn't like it." 

            She flung a handful of midnight-dark hair back, scowling. "You know Jade–he hates things like this. But I told him he wouldn't have time for me anyway, because he'd be busy flirting with everyone. He got all defensive on me and accused _me_ of wanting to flirt with the guys! Can you believe it?!"

            At a loss for what to say, Ami merely nodded her support. It was a popular point of contention between Rei and Jaden. The former still thought that part of his affection for her was due to the fact that she, with her Japanese heritage and devil-may-care attitude, was a way for him to rebel against his parents' expectations–sort of. Jaden was tired of her doubting him, and he couldn't help it if some girls tended to drape themselves all over him...right?

            A half an hour, the subject had turned back to Zach, and Ami had asked Rei exactly what his type was. It was Rei's turn to be unsure of what to tell her. "Well...Zach hasn't dated many dark-haired girls. I've seen him with a few brunettes, and most of his girlfriends have been blonde. And of course, they're all...pretty. The problem is, he doesn't tend to go for the nice, quiet girls. He's flamboyant, and he's only slightly less uninhibited than Jade at parties. He's attractive, and he's rich. I'm betting that he's tired of all the fuss and attention, though."

            "So what's he like around you?" Ami asked curiously.

            To her surprise, Rei laughed. "He's completely different when it's just us three together–me, Zach, and Jade. He hasn't ever hit on me, which, trust me, is a very good thing. I'd probably have smacked him even harder than Mina did, and Jaden would've murdered him–when I was through, of course." She smiled angelically while Ami winced. Rei took martial arts courses, and she looked much less formidable than she actually was. 

            "He's quieter and less–less unpredictable. He's brilliant, Ames, as brilliant as you are, but he doesn't like talking about science and books in public. Did you know he's set up a private lab in the basement? His parents are too afraid to go down there, but Jaden says he hasn't created anything dangerous...but you know that Jade's perception of danger and normality aren't remotely like a normal person's."

            Ami, imagining Zach in a lab coat with the fanatic look of a mad scientist on his face, shuddered.

            Softly, Rei cautioned, "I know you like him, Ami...or you think he's interesting, at least–interesting like you view lab specimens. But don't try it with Zach. He's all too human. Be careful, Ami."

            Rei's advice was always good, but Ami didn't take it too seriously this time. There was no reason for her cousin, good as her intentions were, to worry. Ami was sure of it. Zach made her feel unsure of herself, and she doubted herself enough as it was. She preferred to keep things nice and simple on the outside: as long as she was cool, distant, and formal, most people left her alone. The truly worthwhile people, in her opinion, were the ones who would break through and accept her for who she was. They would always stick by her. 

            Zach presented a stubborn wrinkle in her neat scheme of things, but Ami was positive that he was only a temporary, passing inconvenience. Her tone light, she commented, "I think you may be the only one in this entire house who _isn't _encouraging any ridiculous development of affection between us, Rei."

            "Thank goodness for that. If everyone else had their say, you'd probably be married and off on your honeymoon now," Rei muttered disdainfully, her dislike of matchmaking clear. A moment later, however, she amended, "I didn't mean to give you the impression that I think you shouldn't be friends with Zach. That would probably be pretty...interesting to see."

            Rolling her eyes, Ami replied, "I'm going to pretend that what you just said isn't as insulting as it sounds." 

            Rei grinned, but after a yawn, she asked, "What time is it?"

            "Past midnight. We should both be asleep..."

            Sarcastically, she said, "Yes, we want to be fresh for tomorrow's _wonderful_ happenings. I guess we'll just have to say we were so excited we couldn't sleep." Laughing, Ami launched a pillow at her cousin playfully, who threw it back before she left, saying, "Good night, Ames."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            The next morning, despite her late chat with Rei, Ami got up early. In fact, she awoke so early that she was sure it would be safe to proceed down to the pool. It was lucky that she had remembered to bring her bathing suit, which was a modest one-piece. Ami calculated that she had about half an hour to enjoy herself before she would have to return to her room to shower and dress for breakfast. 

            Her memory was exquisite, for the most part–at least about things she wanted to remember. Ami couldn't recall where many of the things in the house were, but she had made it a point to note the location of the swimming pool. 

            There was no doubt in her mind that no one else would be up at this hour. So of course it seemed very natural to her, when she peered through the double glass doors at the pool, to see a blond head submerging and surfacing at equal intervals as its owner energetically swam laps...

            Her heart sank immediately, and she was about to leave when she realized that the swimmer was not Zach but Jaden. She decided, after a pause, to go in after all. Rei and Jaden's spat had gone on long enough. Usually Ami didn't meddle in other peoples' business–that was Mina's specialty. But Mina and Kunthan were absent from the lively proceedings about to take place, and Ami felt that maybe a logical explanation would clear things up a bit. Her philosophy was that logic never hurt; it only helped. 

            Jaden paused mid-lap when the doors opened, but he smiled cheerily at Ami, waving. His enthusiasm sent a wave of water over the edge of the pool, drenching her thoroughly. "Ami! Fancy meeting you here."

            "Good morning, Jade," she responded somewhat ruefully, wringing out her soaked towel. "Thanks for the impromptu shower. I wasn't aware that I needed one."

            He smiled brightly, not the least bit apologetic. "There are more over there," he said, indicating a stack of fluffy white towels on a shelf not too far away. "Why come to swim if you're not going to get wet?"

            Shaking her head, Ami descended into the shallow end without further comment until she remarked, "I didn't know you were such an early riser."

            Again, he grinned at her effusively. "I'm not. I just thought that a good swim would help prepare me for the ordeal ahead. I can exhaust myself to the point of unthinking, babbling idiocy, and no one would notice."

            "You shouldn't play the fool," she reprimanded sharply. "It doesn't suit you."

            "But it's fun, and I'm lazy."

            "Just like you're being lazy about confronting Rei?"

            Jaden's azure blue eyes opened wide. So much for his misconceived perception of Ami as a sweet, shy, quiet little thing. There was unflinching steel behind those baby-blue eyes, and he had to admit it was a little scary to have it come at him full-force. 

            He had never met anyone so opposite to Zach... Jaden thought they would make a wonderful couple. She would keep him in line even better than even Rei could, and Jaden had a very healthy amount of respect for Rei. Zach would liven Ami up, and–right. He wasn't supposed to planning wonderful dreams for his brother; he was supposed to be answering Ami's bluntly-posed question. 

            He tread water thoughtfully, looking at her. Ami's cheeks were flushed slightly from her boldness, but she met his gaze steadily. "Well...yeah, that could be it," he said offhandedly. When she still didn't say anything, Jaden asked defensively, "Why do I always have to go and make peace first?"

            "It's Christmas," she said simply, smiling. "It's the time of the year when you're supposed to be nice, gallant, generous, and indulgent of women's whims."

            "Do they even celebrate Christmas in Japan?"

            He had invoked the scholar-to-the-death aspect in her, and she replied, "Even though it's not traditional, in this day and age, some Japanese do." Sternly, noticing his gleeful triumph, she added, "And you're getting off topic."

            "Deeply sorry, ma'am. It won't happen again."

            "Of course," she responded dryly. The anxious note was back in her voice as she said in a persuasive tone, "But you will try and see both sides of the argument, won't you? Sometimes it's a little hard for Rei to do that with people she loves, and you're so good at it. And you miss talking to her, don't you?" Sheesh. Emulating Mina was harder than Ami had thought it would be. 

            Jaden said, "I'll think about it" and dove under the water for refuge; they raced each other a few lengths back and forth across the pool until he surfaced. Turning to her as they clambered out, he said, "I wish Kunthan was here." 

            "And I wish Mina was here."

            After heaving a deep sigh, Jaden was back to his normal self. Slyly, glancing at her out of the corner of the eye, he remarked, "You know, Zach had some very interesting things to say about you last night." 

            In truth, Zach hadn't said much to his brother on the topic except for him to shut up and mind his own business, but Jade was curious to see what Ami thought of Zach now. He knew all too well what she'd thought in the years before.

            "Really?" she asked disinterestedly, raising an eyebrow. "Well, since the discussion was between the two of you, I'm sure it was very deep and enlightening and therefore beyond me. See you at breakfast, Jaden." Her tone, which had started out a bit frigid, became warmer when she departed, leaving him to gape after her. 

            "You're too smart for me, Mizuno-Anderson!" he shouted playfully.

            She turned back to wrinkle her nose, smiling widely, and prompted turned around to smack into a newcomer. "I'm sorry–" she began, but she was unable to go on when she realized who she had bumped in to.

            Jaden was laughing his head off, of course. "So much for that legendary smoothness, Zach!"

            Zachary made a very rude gesture at him, and the only thing he said to Ami as he brushed past was a very distracted good morning.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

AN: I don't own Disney, "The Lion King," or Pachelbel's _Canon in D_, of course. Zach's a semi-nice guy...Ami can hate him later ^.~ Of course he couldn't intercept her at the pool, of course. That would've been too much, and even though most of my writing is not very firmly grounded in reality, I like some twists ^^. Thank you for all the reviews, everyone! :) Next chapter, more characters will finally make the scene (which all of you seem to want very much). 'Til then!


	7. Pep Talks and Facials

_Part III, Chapter Four_

            Ami returned to her room feeling a little hurt. But just a little bit, she was able to convince herself–at least until she was able to vent in private. Rei was awake and rummaging about when she entered the bathroom they were sharing, but because Rei wasn't a morning person herself, she didn't comment on Ami's dark expression. When Rei had left, closing the door after her with a comforting snick, Ami stepped into the shower. It was time to assuage her wounded pride with some good, old-fashioned logic.

            She did a lot of her thinking in the shower. Things were busy all the rest of the time, and she found the hot water comforting as she shampooed her hair and thought about how much had happened in the course of only a day. Of course, life with Zachary Coruni–especially in his _house_–was anything but peaceful. Ami grumbled inwardly. She hadn't come here to be seduced (or something along those lines), she had come here to be tortured. Wait. Didn't that not make sense now? And Ami was a person who reveled in sense. 

            So all in all, the morning was off to a Very Bad Start now. And she had hoped, like Jaden, that her morning swim would put her in a good enough mood to deal with the prissy heiresses and arrogant heirs. The latter were only slightly preferred over the former because, for the most part, they left her alone. They thought her uninteresting, unfashionably naive, and shy. But that was besides the point–at the moment. 

            She was supposed to be ready to face the day with her usual cool aplomb. Instead, Ami wanted to hide her in room and never come out. Or maybe it would be more correct if she said she wanted to hide in her room and never come out so she could avoid a certain blond-haired, green-eyed someone. 

            And she _hated_ the fact that he got to her. Ami wasn't a person who appreciated drastic lifestyle changes. The fact that he was probably delighting in her discomfort infuriated her. He was playing psychological mind games with her, and unfortunately for her, they were turning out to be infuriatingly effective. Ami was a person who liked solving puzzles...and she just couldn't figure Zachary Coruni out. His inconsistent behavior had her utterly baffled, and she hated waiting for his move. It was like a deliciously challenging chess game–the only problem was, she wasn't enjoying this kind of game. 

            Again, she tried to reason with herself. Ami had mixed thoughts on naivete. It was half-and-half, really. She knew what she thought she needed to know, and she wasn't_ that_ ignorant of things in the world. What did it matter if she hadn't been interested in what went on relationship-wise until...well...yesterday? She was more savvy in discouraging guys from flirting with her than she'd been two years ago, and that was good enough for her. 

            There was no harm in acting naive–unless you really were naive. That was the problem. Or part of the problem. _Most_ of the problem, she thought self-righteously, was Zachary. After all, she was nobody's fool. She'd known that Zach had dangerous intentions the minute she'd laid eyes on him...yesterday. Just about everything could be traced back to yesterday.

            Zach's cool greeting by the pool had confused her. It was unfair, she thought, that he had chased after her the entire day yesterday and then given her the cold shoulder today. Talk about mixed messages. If the guy showed an interest, wasn't he supposed to follow through?

            She scoffed at herself, working the shampoo into what the bottle called "a rich lather." It was really a pathetic-looking white foam. She was acting–and feeling–like a heartbroken girl. So what if she had let herself indulge in a few fantasies of talking to Zach...kissing him...dating him. It was ridiculous. Making her fall for him–if he was doing it purposely–was probably just a very amusing way of passing the time for him. He probably thought she was too naive to know what he was after. Well, she'd show him–eventually.

            It was too bad that it wasn't "that time of the month." Then she'd actually have an excuse for her emotions...almost every smart girl's solution was to blame everything on hormones. After all, it worked fine for Rei and Mina. 

            Ami sighed heavily. It was all her fault. She should give Zach the benefit of the doubt, even though she felt that he didn't deserve it. No. She would be nice to him today...show him how charming and stylish she could be, and then maybe he would actually notice her. 

            'Didn't he notice you enough?' the sensible part of her mind groaned. But Ami's emotional side wasn't done. 

            'I guess,' she thought defeatedly, 'that it was all my fault. After all, no one else thinks that just because a guy pays them the slightest bit of attention that they're interested. You mistakenly thought he might be interested, so you started thinking he _liked_ you. That he was perfect. His looks didn't help. They actually made everything worse.' 

            Ami went off on a brief tangent to think about his eyes. Green eyes were so rare. She had seen maybe one or two people with truly green eyes, and she thought they were beautiful.

            Ami sniffed self-pityingly until her pride flared back to life. "Damn shampoo," she muttered to herself. "I'm always getting it in my eyes." 

            But really...hadn't there been something besides teasing laughter as he'd looked at her in the library, a spark of excitement when they were standing by the pool? She told herself, firmly, that it was all imagined. And if it wasn't, it didn't matter.

            One last, determined scrub left her scalp tingling. There. It was done. She felt more like her old self as she began rinsing the shampoo out of her hair. It was like all the bad thoughts and insecurities had also been cleared from her mind and were drifting down the drain, never to plague her again. Ami's smile was bittersweet–if only things were that easy.

            She got out of the shower and toweled herself briskly. Then she pulled a sparkly white sweater over her head, blew dry her hair, and brushed out the tangles. At last, Ami was standing before the fogged-up mirror. She rubbed a patch dry for herself and found herself staring into dark cerulean eyes. 

            If she tilted her chin up slightly, giving her a more confident look, the angle of the light changed. Her eyes were a lighter, more vibrant shade of blue. Her lips quirked into a smile, and she walked out of the bathroom with a bounce in her step.

            Things were back to normal: Zachary Coruni was nobody, and he couldn't touch her. Everything would be fine–in two more days. If she could just survive those two days, Ami figured that she could survive just about anything afterwards.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Ami sat primly at the table with her back straight, ignoring all attempts to draw her into conversation with Zachary. He, in turn, never once met her glance after a brief "Good morning." He was wearing glasses–something Ami had neglected to notice before.

            Once everyone was seated, he retreated behind his cup of black coffee, stirring it moodily. He didn't realize that the steam was fogging up his glasses until Jaden snickered at him. Zach glared at him and made the same rude gesture he had made half an hour earlier–but this time his hand was concealed under the table. Jaden didn't have to look to know what it was.

            He turned his thoughts inward after that, ignoring the conversation going on around him. Zach could honestly admit that he didn't completely understand why he was attracted to Ami Mizuno-Anderson. All he knew was that, well, he was. Looking at her from afar, trying to distance himself to the viewpoint of a stranger, Zach admitted that maybe Ami wasn't as upbeat and warm as Mina or bold and fiery like Rei.

            The problem was (and it was a very serious problem), there was something that made her special in his eyes. And from the moment he had begun to recognize this, Zach had known he was doomed....because at this moment in time, it would be her–or no one else at all. 

            It seemed that it had been this way for him all his life; everything had always been about extremes. He would begin something and see it all the way through to the end, even if it killed him, or he wouldn't even bother considering the project. This trait had exasperated his brother, befuddled his parents, and annoyed his teachers.

            He just couldn't find a single fault about Ami, but it didn't bother him in the slightest. It was true that she was a little shy, but there was nothing demure in that steel interior of hers. She appeared to be mousy and easily overlooked, and it was a wonderful mask to hide behind.

            At age seven, she had been a pain and a crybaby, but that was forgivable; seven years later, she had grown up–somewhat. It still didn't seem like she had changed much since then. Some disillusionment about the world appeared to have occurred on her part, but she was still shy and innocent. Sort of. He was actually beginning to have his doubts.

            It was an unavoidable fact of the matter that he was physically attracted to her. It was very possibly that her appearance had been the first thing he had seriously noticed about her, besides the fact that she had highly disapproved of him and hadn't hesitated in letting him know it. She wasn't as undeniably as Mina or as exotic-looking as Rei...she was just different. She was her own person, and there was no one else he knew that was remotely like her. 

            She had stayed in his mind ever since their confrontation two years ago. That they had met as children didn't really matter to him. It was a plus that she was still riled over how he had bullied her then, but Zach was focused in the here and now. Particularly now, because she was sitting across from him and staring at her toast.

            Ami seemed to be fully in control of her world (except when he made her blush), and she treated him with icy disdain. Zach knew himself well enough to predict that he would have lost interest in both the ice princess and the blushing schoolgirl if he hadn't experienced the full force of Ami's smile. 

            It was a very enigmatic smile indeed. There was a bittersweet element to her smile, a shadowed look in her eyes. It was the look of a soul waiting to be set free in the world, a soul that yearned to fly high beyond the rooftops and the restraints of everyday life. 

            His ears had rarely been treated to the sound of her laugh, but the times that he had heard it, its crystalline chimes made music. Her laughter was purely joyous, uninhibited and carefree. It carried the lure of freedom with it, floating on the breeze. 

            When Ami was caught off-guard and enjoying herself, being in her company was like standing under a waterfall. Her spirit contained purity and serenity. She was as natural as that waterfall and just as refreshing. The alluring aspect of her was as beautiful as the mist that rose upwards from the lakes that high falls ended in.

            Ami intrigued him. He knew she had the potential to become a slightly different person, one who was more true to herself and the world. His interest had first been piqued when he'd noticed the sparkle of mischief in her eyes. There was a side of her that resembled a water nymph in a fantasy, playful and ever-elusive.

            He had heard stories from Nevan and Jaden about how much more comfortable and personal she was around Mina and Rei. Zach suspected that Kunthan had also seen Ami let loose, but Kunthan rarely talked about other people (Mina being the sole exception). The day that Zach talked like a girl had hung the sun, the moon, and the stars, he would really be whipped. Inwardly, he shuddered. 

            It was horrifying to see how far the mighty, stoic Kunthan had fallen. He privately promised himself that he would never, ever care that much about a girl. It sounded unhealthy. Besides, he figured it wouldn't be that difficult. 

            He had few close female friends–there were a lot of girls he had a good time flirting with, bu they didn't count. Rei and Mina were exceptions, but they were already dating Jaden and Kunthan. Most of their time and attention was concentrated on their boyfriends. No problem there. Zach's two closest girl friends were Lita, who was his cousin, and Serena, who he and Jaden treated like a little sister. 

            It had always been easy for him, in his perpetually-short relationships, to care less than his girlfriend. It was safer. After all, nothing was permanent. Zachary had long decided that there was no such thing as earth-shattering, eternal love. 

            The story of Romeo and Juliet was not only extremely disillusioning but also highly overrated. They met one night, kissed, made out on her balcony, and decided to get married the next day. It didn't matter that their friends and parents died left and right. Plus, there was the whole age-difference thing. It was actually very disturbing. 

            And when things didn't go their way, it was time to take drastic measures (i.e. death...sort of). Romeo waxed lyrical forever, Juliet still didn't wake up, and he was too daft to notice that she was _alive_ for pity's sake. In fact, although he'd never thought about the story much until it had been assigned in school, Shakespeare had taken the meaning of "one night stand" to a whole new level.

            But getting back to the present subject (regardless of what was considered one of the most romantic stories in literary history)... Zach was more in control of himself than most other people suspected. Even Rei didn't have the full measure his iron will–but Jaden knew. Kunthan knew. And Nevan knew. What he did, he chose to do.

            If he was throwing Ami off-balance, she was affecting him more than anyone suspected. He actually _wanted_ to let go of all his hard-earned, inner calm. He wanted to throw caution to the winds and discover the person behind Ami's facade...

            But Zachary had already gotten a glimpse of the fascinating person inside Ami Mizuno-Anderson. He had a feeling that if he got through to her, released her, he would never be able to let her go. He would be sucked into a whirlpool he didn't know how to get out of.

            So Zach decided, for once, to play it safe. Just for a little bit, he reassured himself. He could see that she was thrown off-balance. He had thrown himself off-balance. It would be better, for the both of them, if he kept his distance for the time being. But he was far from done with her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Ami shadowed the doorway apprehensively. There house was packed to the brim with visitors. Once the clock had struck ten, it seemed as if the doorbell hadn't stopped ringing. She had spent most of her time in one of the parlors chatting politely with some girls she knew. Some of them went to the same school as she did.

            A light lunch had been served shortly thereafter, and she was grateful for the chance to restore her sanity. She had been seated next to Rei and a vacuous brunette who ignored them both in favor of the blond-haired girl on her right.

            Ami was pretty sure that she had seen Jaden pulling Rei aside after lunch... She hoped they were making up and not making the situation worse. During the morning's ordeal, she had avoided looking for Zach. Because, of course, she didn't care what he did or who he talked to.

            Although she had (inadvertently) noticed him playing the obedient host and standing by the doorway with Aileen and Jaden to greet the guests. He had looked perfectly charming–but for some reason, Ami thought he was feeling tortured. She quickly dismissed the thought. He probably reveled in all the chaos and attention.

            At lunch, she had looked up once when someone had called Rei's name. The dark-haired girl returned the greeting with evident fondness, and the girl who waved back vivaciously was one of the prettiest she had ever seen. In fact, Ami thought that she could give even Mina a run for her money. But as she'd looked across the table, making note of the stranger's crystal blue eyes, her gaze intercepted an uncanny green one. 

            She had flushed and looked down at her plate, suddenly ill-at-ease. Zach was seated between the beautiful, beaming blonde and Jaden. Her mind told her that she wasn't the least bit jealous. Her heart felt otherwise. She groaned inwardly–wasn't she supposed to have squashed any and all feelings she might feel towards Zachary Coruni except polite tolerance? 

            It was then that she realized Rei had been trying to get her attention. "What? Sorry, I...drifted off."

            "Sure you did," her cousin said, rolling her eyes knowingly. "That's Serena Tsukino; we go to school together. You haven't met her yet, because her family moved here very recently. I'll introduce you later."

            Ami blinked at her in surprise. "Is she Japanese? She doesn't look very Japanese."

            "She lived in Tokyo for a few years–Juuban district. Maybe one of her parents is European or American."

            "Mm. I feel so bad for her–she has to sit next to Zach."

            Rei giggled. "Oh, Ami. Just because you can't admit that you like him doesn't mean everyone else has to hate him." Her face flamed as Rei went on to say, "Serena and Zach actually adore each other. All of the guys treat her like their princess, and she deserves it. Serena's like an angel reincarnated. She's never mean to anyone. I don't understand how she can do it."

            Ami smiled weakly. She would have felt more like laughing if Serena didn't sound so perfect.

            "I changed my mind. She can't be an angel, because she's too klutzy–right, meatball head?" She said the last part loud enough for Serena to hear, and the twin buns on her head bobbed with her head as she nodded vigorously, undisturbed by Rei's teasing.

            "Are they dating?"

            Rei looked at her as if she was crazy. "Serena? And Zach? No! They're just very good friends. She's probably his only close friend who's a girl. Serena is the only person he feels obliged to be nice to all the time, and he actually behaves himself around her. Before, I didn't think that was possible. She flirts with him nonstop, but we all know it's just to make Darien jealous."

            "Darien...?"

            "Chiba. Over there–the black-haired guy with blue eyes. He's another Japanese...only he actually looks more like it. So you don't have to worry about competition, Ames. Even if Darien can't get up the nerve to ask her out, he'd go ballistic if Serena and Zach started dating. I hope they don't. They're such good friends, but they don't seem like they would be compatible romantically."

            It was around one thirty now, and Ami was tired of listening to where so-and-so was going to college, how much money so-and-so's father made (insinuated in a roundabout manner so that it wouldn't seem like bragging), and that so-and-so was dating yet another new boyfriend (or girlfriend). She looked up suddenly, alerted by the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. 

            Ami practically ran all the way into the room...because Zachary and a brunette she didn't know had been walking together in her direction. She hoped they hadn't seen her...or that they weren't going to come in...

            "So where do _you_ go for your facials?"

            Ami stared at the speaker, a dark-haired girl with very tanned skin. Wonderful. She had barely escaped Zach and some new girlfriend of his to walk into a conversation about facials, of all the things in the world that could be discussed. And Ami was _not_ an advocate of facials. The more you got, the you needed them. "Um..."

            "Sorry...I forgot to introduce myself." Her tone implied that Ami should have known who she was. "I'm Melissa. Melissa _Cromwell_." The emphasis on her last name indicated some company her father owned.

            "Ami," she replied faintly. So this was what happened when one went away to boarding school for practically two-thirds of the year. Some new, snobby girls joined the old ones...

            "So about the facials? Do you go anywhere near here?" Melissa asked her.

            "Actually, I've never had one, so I couldn't tell you, sorry." Ami's tone of voice was

deceptively sweet as she distributed a polite smile all around. Secretly, she was grinning in victory. Score one for Ami, zero for Melissa Cromwell and co. 

            As she headed for the door, she heard the conversation continuing behind her.

            "Never had a facial?"

            She rolled her eyes. They sounded like it was such an impossible feat...

            "But she has such nice skin...there isn't a single blemish on it!" one girl wailed distractedly.

            "Never mind what she said. She was probably lying. Who _was_ she, anyway?" she heard Melissa ask the others.

            "Shh. Melissa! Even if you're new here, you should watch who you're talking about." Ah. Ami knew the speaker this time. It was Emily, who was always painfully precise about protocol. "That's Ami Mizuno-Anderson."

            "And everyone who's someone has heard of Richard Anderson. I wouldn't go around insulting his daughter, if I were you."

            Melissa sniffed. "Because she'll run off and tell her daddy? Please."

            Before anyone could reply to _that_ statement, Allison, who was prone to gossiping, whispered loudly, "But you know what I've heard about Ami? Her parents are cozy with the Corunis, and they wanted to introduce her to Zach!"

            Ami stiffened, and she paused in the doorway. 

            "Aren't they satisfied with Rei dating Jaden? It's not fair for one family to get two of the best-looking guys around," someone whined. 

            "Evidently not. But the Corunis don't seem to mind–Ami and her family already spent all of yesterday with them, before the rest of us got here!" Allison squealed.

            Ami resisted the urge to hit her head on the doorway. After all, she did have that bruise from the day before. How had Allison found out about that...?

            "Ami?"

            Oh no. Oh no... She turned around slowly, feeling as if her doom was approaching her. "Zach...hi."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

AN: And the general consensus is probably.... "Finally!!!" [After: "And we thought last time was a cliffhanger? ^.~]

I apologize for the very long delay...thanks to Kaze and also ReE for getting me back on track ^.~ Anytime you feel that I'm being lazy (which is only the case a quarter of the time...the other 3/4 of the time I'm drowned in schoolwork), drop me a line and yell at me to continue. 

            So I revived the story....went back and revised Part 3. I decided that Ami and Zach were acting too immature in this part of the story for them to be as old as I originally intended, so I went back and fiddled with the age implications a bit. 

            This chapter was a little strange, in my opinion @.@ and I know Jane Doe and Innocent Dreamer asked for Zach's POV. Well, he's difficult to place right now ^^;; but hopefully this has given us all some perspective into his character. After all, he was just the creepy stalker/pianist/jerk without much of a personality. (By the way, Roganu-chan, it's awesome that you like "Canon in D," too! Although mine's only 3 pages...wow...if it's really 8 pages, everyone must have been bored to death ^.~)

            Comments, questions, concerns...._suggestions_, anyone? ^.~ Thanks for all the reviews, everyone! You guys are awesome ^^. I really appreciate the feedback :)

            3, ~Ice

P.S. If I have offended anyone in my not-so-appropriate analysis of "Romeo and Juliet" (which isn't mine, of course)...well....sorry. ^^; But I think it's a fairly accurate, condensed version ^.~

P.P.S. Oops, sorry Isis Aurora Tomoe ^^;; Lita next chapter…really!!

à next chapter isn't really a chapter…it's sort of my comic release in 1st period Psychology (when all I want to do is sleep and not be tortured by my teacher. It's basically a parody of the chapters that have already gone by; it's very short and slightly deranged, but hey…it's amusing…somewhat ^.~) 


	8. LAFS Parody!

_Thus far in "Love at Fifth Sight"..._

~*~ Part I ~*~

Ami: "What a jerk!"

Zach: "What a crybaby!"

~*~ Part II, Chapter 1 ~*~

Zach: "Is that hot girl...Mizuno-Anderson?! It is! ACK!!! I'm now emotionally scarred! But wait...such nice legs this specimen possesses..."

Ami: "And you haven't changed, you immature pervert! Grow up!"

*smack* – courtesy of Mina

~*~ Part II, Chapter 2 ~*~

Nevan: "I think you should give him a chance, Ames. I mean, look at Mina and Kun and Rei and Jade. We'll disregard the fact that this is completely irrelevant. *ahem* He's not really that creepy once you get to know him...I promise!"

Ami: "Right...okay."

Zach: "Hey there, pretty lady. Wanna dance?"

Ami: "What do you think?! NO!! I'm not going to dance with you–ever–because you are completely and utterly beneath me with your juvenile behavior!" 

'P.S. I resent it when people who criticize me two hours earlier just walk up and ask me to dance. Am I the only one that sees anything wrong with this picture?'

Zach: "Ouch. That stings. New Year's...Mid-summer's...resolution: must reform self."

~*~ Part III, Chapter 1 ~*~

Ami: "Yes! I'm coming home to be nice and safe and rested! But of course, we _know_ this can't happen and that I really am jealous of Rei (and Jaden)."

Parents: "By the way, Ami, we're going to Zach's house. Won't that be so much fun?"

Ami: *defeated sigh* "I knew it."

Rei: "By the way, I broke up with Jade again–but this time it's a big issue, really!"

Mom: "And if that isn't enough...I'd like you to meet Zach and get married and have pretty grandchildren!" *wink wink, nudge nudge*

Ami: "Just shoot me now." *yanks hand away from Zach* "Behave, you!"

~*~ Part III, Chapter 2 ~*~

Zach: "Let me be a charming seducer. P.S. – get this! I'm devious and slick and did I mention charming yet? oh, I did? Damn. Anyway, being the sly and evil person that I am, I'm going to suggest that this ball thing coming up (because there _has_ to be a ball) be made a couples' thing. What do you think?" *engaging smile*

Ami: "I need to hide in the bathroom. Excuse me. Oh no! He's different now! I just can't resist! Oh, wait, I can, I can!! – this just proves that I really have split personalities, but because only the shy girl and the ice princess exist, it can't be categorized as MPD–or can it?" ^.~

Zach: "Feel free to use the pool. And I really want to kiss you now, but this happening so soon would be detrimental to the plotline."

~*~ Part III, Chapter 3 ~*~

Mom: "So nice of you to show up for dinner... *smirk* We thought you might be 'occupied' all night."

Zach: "..."

Ami: *hides in mortification*

Mom: "Right. We believe you."

Zach: "Uh...I can play the piano, watch me! Impressive, eh?" ^.~

Rei: "Pst...Ami! You were secretly wishing that I was Zach, sneaking into your room, weren't you?"

Ami: "Hey, you said it; I didn't. So he's not for me, right? I thought so. And he's not a research specimen, either? Then use could he possibly serve? Wow, he sounds so boring!" 

Jaden: *splash* "Oh, sorry Ames. Didn't see you there." ;)

Ami: "Uh huh. Sure. Because Mina was unfortunately kicked out a few chapters back due to lack of foresight and too many characters crowding in, I shall now attempt to play her. *ahem* *drones* You must make up with Rei...it is your destiny."

Jade: *whines* "Do I _have_ to?"

Ami: "Yes. Come on, Jade, be a man!"

Jade: "Okay then."

Ami: "I'll be leaving now." 

*crash* 

Ami: 'Enter klutz. I mean, oh my, Zach!!" *dreamy eyes*

Zach: "*ahem* good morning. Er, Good Morning. Good _morning_." 'When am I ever going to get it right?!!"

~*~ Part III, Chapter 4 ~*~

Ami: "The shower is so soothing...and I feel so sad. Why does he always have to be a jerk? But the up side is: Zach is now my 

mortal enemy! That vile villain, he shall not tricketh me with his paltry...tricks?"   

Zach: "Basically, I like Ami because I think she's scary (that's what it boils down to, anyway). And hot, of course. Can't 

forget that. I mean, who cares about brains?"

Ami: "I do!! Hey...wow, that girl is really pretty."

Rei: "Oh, that's meatball head, who we all love for no reason whatsoever. I mean, we adore her because she's perfect, and everyone knows we all love perfect people...or not."

Ami: "That's nice. So are they dating or what? Because that's all I want to know, of course."

Rei: "HAHAHA!"

Ami: "Well, that answered my question well."

Rei: "Let's throw in Darien for good measure."

Ami: "Okay. Oh no, Zach's coming down the hall with Lita, who I haven't met yet!"

Melissa: "I am Melissa, and in my opinion, I am a very important person. So where do you go for your facials?"

Ami: "In your face! *cough* I mean...facials? Never heard of 'em." ;)

*rampant jealousy*

*girly gossip*

Girls: "Wow, don't you find it disturbing that Rei and Ami, who are cousins, are dating (or apparently going to date and then marry) Jade and Zach, who are brothers? Are you sure there's no in-breeding involved there? It sounds messy."

Ami: "Hm. I didn't consider this issue before."

Zach: "Ta da! You're such an eavesdropper, Ames; you forgot that I was coming your way! ;) Oh, by the way, I dropped Lita off somewhere. Should I introduce her next chapter?"

Ami: "Given a choice between you and Melissa...I'll take Melissa–I mean, hi Zach! I am now caught between an internal 

debate: do I be nice to you because I want to get out of here and away from those girls, or do I ignore you so they 

won't think that something's going on between us?"

_To be continued in Chapter 5..._


	9. Boiling Point

_Part III, Chapter 5_

            Sounding like a gaggle of geese, the group of girls behind them started whispering anew. 

Zachary winced, which redeemed him slightly in Ami's mind. 

            'Wonderful,' she thought fatalistically. 'Fresh, catty gossip for them to share. Watch this lovely interaction between the perfect couple match-made by their own, sadistic parents.'

            "About the closing ball tomorrow night...you know, we talked about it yesterday afternoon. In the library."

            Uh oh. Ami smiled weakly and inched towards the door. "Um, right." 'Could you speak any louder?' she thought.

            "My mom's still obsessed with the idea of making it a couples thing." Actually, Aileen had just recently become introduced to the idea, but Zach didn't feel the need to say that. Besides, she had loved his suggestion–just as he'd known she would.

            "Oh. That's...nice."

            He lowered his voice slightly. "I know she's expecting me to go with someone, and I have to, because, you know, I'm the host. Or one of the hosts. And you can't see me going with one of those girls, can you?" They both turned to look at the girls, who immediately became silent and smiled charmingly at Zach. The poisonous envy in their eyes was reserved for Ami.

            Their target was panicking–she had a very bad feeling that she knew where this was going. 'Think, Ami, think!' she screamed at herself. 'There has to be some way I can get out of this...'

            He faced her again, smiling his own disarming smile. "So...would you be my date?"

            Her mouth dropped open. Why did he have to do things so publicly?! 

            Zach started tapping his foot more out of anxiety than impatience, watching her turn various shades of red. Just then, the pretty brunette he had come in with bounded over. "Hey, Zach–oh, sorry, am I interrupting you two?"

            "Nope." He smiled painfully.

            "Well, then, aren't you going to introduce me, Zach?" she asked pointedly.

            He rolled his eyes at her. "You're perfectly capable of introducing yourself."

            "Your manners need work," she commented.

            Zach sighed. "Ami, this is my cousin Lita. She's a pain in the ass," he said in a pleasant tone. He yelped as she punched him in the arm. Rubbing the sore spot, he gave her a dark look and added, "She also takes karate."

            Lita smiled innocently. "Nice to meet you," she said to Ami enthusiastically.

            Mentally, Ami latched onto this new subject as a temporary reprieve from Zach's insane question. Hopefully, it had been a joke. "You, too," she began, "I'm–"

            Zach, who was getting annoyed, cut in. "Lita, this Ami Mizuno-Anderson...you know–Rei's cousin, Richard Anderson and Kira Mizuno's daughter? She's also the girl I'm _trying_ to ask to the dance tomorrow night. So...would you mind?"

            Lita's grin was the size of the Cheshire Cat's as she replied, "I can take a hint. It was lovely meeting you, Ames. I hope we get to talk sometime soon–I can tell you anything you'd like to know about my blockheaded cousin here."

            "Thank you, Lita," he muttered under her breath. As she strolled away, winking playfully at Ami, he said, "Don't listen to anything she tells you–"

            "Because it'll be right, right?"

            "Right." He shifted nervously. "So, um...have you come to a decision?"

            "About what?"

            "The dance!" he practically yelled.

            The room suddenly became silent, and Ami winced. "That was loud," she informed him.

            Zach glowered at her. "I don't really care. So is it yes or no, Ami?"

            Ami glanced around the room, which proved to be a fatal mistake. The daggers in the other girls' eyes promised to rip the flesh from her bones. "No," she whispered. Her own insecurities managed to convince her that he couldn't possibly be serious–it was all part of joke that they would all have a good laugh about later. More loudly, she repeated, "No, Zach."

            It was his turn to gape like a fish. "Why not?"

            She had turned to go, but she looked back at him. Her eyes were huge in her pale face, and she hoped no one notice that she was trembling. "I....I have a boyfriend, Zach." With that, she fled from the doorway.

            Lita looked after her, frowning, but the other occupants of the room was not so astute. The room erupted in whispers and speculation, and all eyes were fixed up Zachary. His fists were clenched, his face white. 

            Lita walked up to him quickly, worried about the blazing anger and betrayal in his eyes. She reached out to touch his sleeve. "Zach–"

            Roughly, he jerked away from her. "No. Leave me alone," he said in a low voice.

            She watched him disappear through the doorway, vanishing in the opposite direction that Ami had gone, and her heart hurt for him. 

            He had looked so upbeat, so confident when he'd told her that he was asking Ami to go to the dance with him. At first, his face had been filled with disbelief at being rejected–wounded pride and hurt welled up in the wake of his surprise, and he was too shocked to maintain his normal, couldn't-care-less front.

            'Please, Zach,' Lita thought to herself. 'Don't do anything stupid.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Ami wiped away the tear that was making its way down her cheek in a slow, salty trail. She sniffed miserably as more tears clouded her vision. The day had gone from bad to worse, and she just wanted to find a nice, dark hole to crawl into and never come out of. 

            The stronger side of her told her to pull herself together and that running away wouldn't help. She wiped away all her tears and blinked several times, wishing for the seventy-thousandth time that she didn't have to wear contacts–they were much better than glasses, but they stung when she put them in the wrong way, got an eyelash in her eye, or cried. 

            Ami looked around her, fighting down a surge of panic. She had no idea where she was. Nothing looked familiar...had she even been in this part of the house before? There was a wooden, spiraling staircase to her left, and she climbed it, hoping that she might come out somewhere near her room, which was on the second floor.

            The first door she came to was slightly open, and she peeked in curiously. Maybe there was a maid who could tell her where to go...or maybe not. There was no one inside except a large green lizard, who was residing in its tank quite happily. There were clothes–a mixture of jeans, black pants, gray shirts, and white shirts–strewn everywhere except the computer. She could see a paused a computer game on its screen and a mug on the mouse pad. There was a shelf full of books and a closet that was half-open with all sorts of clutter spilling out from inside of it.

            It definitely wasn't her room....and there was no one inside. But she wondered whose room it was. It seemed infused with personality, but overall, it looked like a life on-hold. Suddenly, pounding footsteps coming towards her attracted her attention. She looked straight ahead to see Zach running towards her. He skidded to a halt before her, and his expression was stormy as he demanded, "What are you doing here?"

            "I–I'm sorry, I got lost, and–"

            "Your room's all the way at the end of the hall," he said tightly before disappearing into his room and slamming the door shut.

            She stayed outside the door, frozen in place. "I'm sorry, Zach," she whispered. She didn't know if he could hear her–but she hoped that he did.

            All of a sudden, a friendly arm laid itself across her shoulders. Ami looked up into forest green eyes that were a few shades darker than Zach's. "Lita..."

            "Hey, Ames," she said in a friendly tone. Lita began towing her away from Zach's door. "Did you bring a bathing suit?" she asked.

            "Um...what? Oh–yes, but why do you ask?" Ami's head was aching, and she wanted badly to be alone. But there was something wonderfully comforting about Lita's warm, solid presence.

            "A bunch of girls are getting into their skimpy bikinis in an attempt to get Jaden's–or Zach's–attention. Personally, I think they're idiots–the only person Jade has eyes for is Rei. While they're roasting away in the whirlpool, why don't we do a few laps? I'm not on the school team, but I think I can give you a run for your money."

            "O-okay," Ami said shyly.

            Lita smiled. "Great–I'll meet you there in ten minutes. Do you know how to get there?"

            She looked down at her hands uncomfortably, remembering the night before. Had it really been just last night, she wondered, when they had been close enough to kiss? It seemed so long ago, and he seemed so far away from her now. "Yeah, I know," she answered quietly. "Zach showed me yesterday night."

            The brunette patted her shoulder sympathetically. "I'll see you downstairs, then."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            By the time Ami got there, she was still feeling upset and ill-at-ease. Her swimsuit was still wet from her morning swim, and just as she reached the double glass doors, a group of scantily-clad girls brushed past her. As she eased herself into the pool, she cast nervous glances in the direction of the small clump of girls in the whirlpool. They had begun whispering among themselves, and their gossip was punctuated by bits of artificial laughter. 

            "Ignore them." Lita was standing before her, her brown hair darkened by several shades because of the water. 

            "I plan to," she smiled. "About that race, then?"

            "On your mark–get set–"

            "GO!" a male voice called. Ami looked around and saw Jaden standing by the side of the pool in his swimming trunks, grinning. "Hurry up!" he called to her.

            Lita, who had spotted Jaden beforehand, was already making progress towards the other end of the pool. Ami dove underwater and started stroking without another word. When she surfaced, gasping, Lita was already brushing her sopping bangs out of her eyes. "I thought you'd never get here!" she remarked cheerfully. 

            Ami nodded and started running her fingers through her own wet hair. 

            The brunette sighed–she could already tell that Ami was just like Zach: neither of them would be the first to bring up a subject that was troubling them, so others had to do it for them. "Ami," she began matter-of-factly, "you're not really dating anyone, are you?"

            She looked away uncomfortably. "How did you know?"

            "Well, you didn't say it like you really meant it, and if you _really_ had a boyfriend, you would have told Zach already. He's not the most subtle person around, and I know he would never go for a girl who's already taken." Ami looked up in surprise, but Lita just smiled. "So...would you tell me why you lied to him?"

            "He's your cousin," Ami said softly. "Why are you being so nice to me now if I just hurt him?"

            Lita merely shrugged in a carefree manner and began floating on her back. "Make sure Jaden doesn't come anywhere near me. The minute I see him, I'm going under–I start panicking whenever I see that silly, mischievous grin on his face. 

            I like you, Ames. You seem like my type of gal. I don't like being around all these girls that Aunt Aileen and Uncle Derrick invite over their house. They have to, I understand, but I don't hang around these people all the time, so I guess I'm not used to it. But anyway...if you lied something like that, I think you must have had to have a good reason to do it."

            "I did...or I thought I did. I'm a private person, Lita. I don't like being asked to dances in front of a crowd, and I hate making a scene. I used to start shaking if I was called up in front of the class, and people picked on me all the time when I was younger. 

            I looked around when he asked me and saw all those girls glaring at me. They didn't even know what we were talking about, but they were just angry that Zach and I were talking. For them, it's a constant battle to get the upper hand. All they want to do is marry an extraordinarily rich guy so they can play queen of the manor–or mansion–when they're married. 

            All the pressure was on me for those few minutes–but then you came over, Lita, and I was so relieved. You bought me some more time to think, and I noticed how at ease Zach was with you. He joked with you; he seemed laid-back and more like himself. I don't know him very well, Lita. I first met when we were both pretty young, and the second time I met him...well...we didn't get the best impressions of each other.

            I've only been here for a day, and my parents sprung this three-night stay idea on me. It's been suffocating to be on my guard all the time, and it feels like Zach's constantly breathing down my neck. We had a fairly odd conversation in the library, and then...well...he showed me the way to the pool, because Rei had mentioned that I liked swimming."

            Lita's eyes sparkled playfully. "How considerate of him," she drawled. "Did he seize the moment and make a move on you then or wait until later?"

            Ami flushed darkly. "Um...I thought he was going to, but he didn't. When we came into dinner late, everyone assumed that we were...together. Which we were. It was just that everyone was sort of hoping we would get together over the holidays. He played piano later that night," she added.

            She grinned. "He's good, isn't he?" she asked, proud of her cousin.

            "Yes, he is."

            "And...what about today? How was he acting towards you before he asked you to the dance?" Lita inquired.

            Ami shrugged helplessly. "He was so strange. In the morning, he hardly said a word to me, and I hadn't seen him since lunch when he came up to me and just asked me, out of the blue, to the dance. Wouldn't you be a little unnerved?"

            "Sure I would," Lita laughed, "but that's because he's my cousin. I'd think he was nuts if he asked me to a dance."

            "Lita! I meant any guy; it doesn't have to be Zach."

            "No...I mean, Zach definitely has strange ways of showing his attraction, but I think it sounds romantic."

            Ami sighed. "Are you looking for a boyfriend?"

            "Sure...why not? Do you have someone in mind?"

            "No. I'm not the type to match-make people, Lita. It's better if they're left alone to figure things out by themselves." After a few seconds' thought, she changed her mind when a likely candidate popped up. "Actually, there's someone I know who you might get along with, but he's not here. I'll see if I can introduce you sometime."

            Lita righted herself and resumed treading water. "What's his name?"

            "Nevan Starre. I go to school with him; he's very–"

            Unfortunately, Lita never got to hear about Nevan's virtues. Ami cut herself off mid-sentence when Zach strolled into the room. 

            He raked the room with an indifferent gaze, stiffening almost imperceptibly when he spotted her–only she and Lita noticed. Completely ignoring them, he sauntered over to the group of girls who had been eagerly-awaiting his arrival after they had failed to capture Jaden's attention. They made room for him, each girl hoping that he would choose to sit beside her. Zach situated himself between one of the prettiest blondes and a brunette in a vary daring bathing suit without another look in Ami and Lita's direction.

            Ami blinked back tears and started climbing out of the pool. Lita pulled her back down, a concerned and annoyed look on her face–the anxiety was for Ami, the exasperation for Zach. "Ames, come on. Don't go–I love Zach, and even though I understand what he's doing–salvaging his wounded pride–I know he's being a jerk right now. If you leave, you'll have let him get to you. Stay here and ignore him as thoroughly as he's ignoring us."

            "I don't want to stay here and listen to him flirting with each and every one of them!" she protested in a vehement whisper.

            Lita gestured to Jaden frantically. The blue-eyed blonde was frowning bewilderedly in his brother's direction–Zach had also bypassed him on his way to the whirlpool. He deserted Serena and Darien, who were utterly absorbed in each other anyway, walked over to the edge of the pool again, and crouched down. "What's going on?" he asked quietly. "What's up with Zach?"

            "I'll tell you later. He's doing it just to spite Ami, and she wants to leave."

            "You should!"

            "Yeah, but how? It'll look like she's running away and that she let him get to her."

            Jaden held out his hand to her. "Come on out, Ames. If you want to go, you should be able to go."

            After Ami had draped her towel over her shoulders, Jaden slung his arm around her casually, and they departed together. Lita watched them go with a smile, which was a great contrast to Zach's murderous glare.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

AN: Well, I warned everyone about the strange parody in my author's notes for Ch. 4...so no complaints, please! ;; I apologize for the delay, but here's Chapter 5. Things seem to be going okay now (writing-wise, not Ami/Zach relationship wise ^.~), so expect Chapter 6 sometime soon!

            ~Ice

P.S. Again, thanks for all the wonderful readers & reviewers out there! :)


	10. Setting Things Straight

_Part III, Chapter 6_      

            Zach had never been more jealous in his life as the moment he watched Jaden and Ami walk out together. The fire consuming him from within, demanding bitter retribution, flickered dangerously as he watched their departure. His helplessness infuriated him, and the vengeful anger inside of him reignited. 

            He stayed with the girls in the whirlpool, steaming away without and within, but the pleasure of ignoring her and flirting with all the other girls to spite her was gone. She probably hadn't even cared about what he was doing–and Zach could no longer pretend that he was completely unaffected by her rejection of him. Not after she had climbed out of the pool and walked out, cool as you please, with his brother. 

            The fact that it had been Jaden also gnawed at him. He hated being at odds with his brother, but his well-hidden insecurity planted millions of doubts in his mind. Jaden had broken up with Rei recently...and he and Ami had always gotten along. Each time Zach tried to remind himself that Jaden was completely in love with Rei (half-listening to the girls' inane chatter), he recalled that it was Jaden who she had walked with after dinner last night, swum with in the morning, and left with just now.

            Enough. He was going to drive himself mad this way, and he couldn't think surrounded by this bunch of giggling harpies who were happily backstabbing any and all of their friends who weren't currently with them.

            After a sufficient amount of time had passed (then no one would think that his leaving had any connection to Ami's), Zach levered himself out of the pool and departed swiftly, despite his fan club's disappointed protests. Not only did he want to get away from them so he could think, he also wanted to escape two pairs of perceptive blue eyes. It was scary, he thought, how well Darien and Serena knew him. 

            He stalked into his room, but the mess and the dried coffee stains on the rug only infuriated him further. At last, he snuck downstairs to the coat closet, yanked on a bulky winter jacket and his shoes, and slipped through the back door. Hopefully, there wouldn't be anyone walking around outside–it turned out, fortunately for Zach (who wasn't in the mood for company), that no one else was crazy enough to be wandering around when it was close to freezing outside. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Ami heaved a sigh of relief when Jaden finally left her alone. She appreciated his concern, but she didn't feel like talking about her problems to anyone. Spilling out the entire story to Lita had been an exception–she had immediately liked the warm, friendly brunette, and at that moment, she had just wanted to get everything off her chest. 

            Now she wasn't sure if she had made the right decision. In the past, she had always internalized her problems and shielded her emotions from the world–she didn't think it had to be any different this time. Her heart, however, seemed heavier than it had ever been before.

            She tried to sit or lie down, but she just couldn't stay still. None of the activities she tried could occupy her mind for long–including schoolwork. In fact, she became so sick of her assignments that she just wanted to hurl them into the trash can. 

            Looking at her watch, Ami decided that she would go back to the library and take refuge in the safety and comfort its shelves and shelves of books provided. Not many of her contemporaries enjoyed reading, and she didn't think any of them would be there. But she would have to be extremely careful to avoid any of them on her way there.

            She was almost to the library, with its circular dome and homey feeling, when she glided silently past a roomful of teenagers. She overheard her name and paused, plastering herself against the wall so she could listen.

            "–hear about Mizuno-Anderson and Coruni?"

            She winced. She _hated_ being called by her last name.

            "He actually asked the little nerd to the dance!"

            That stung.

            "She may be a nerd, but she's actually kind of cute. Too smart for a girl, but cute."

            "Are you nuts? She's half-Japanese and half-American. She just looks _weird_."

            A drawling, bored voice commented, "You're such a bigot. Who cares if your taste doesn't coincide with Coruni's? What I want to know is was he serious or was it just another one of his games?"

            'Another one of his games?' Ami was biting her lip hard enough to draw blood, and her heart was pounding furiously. 

            "I don't know if he asked her just to see if she'd say yes. I haven't seen him since then, and personally, I think he just overstepped his limits. He's too damn confident in himself–who cares if he likes her? He just wants the challenge. But you know, girls like her don't go for guys like him. It just doesn't work."

            She stepped away then, her fingernails digging into her palms. When she looked down, there were bloodless white crescents on her hands. Even the library couldn't make her feel better now...she just felt confused and upset. Had it been all a game to him?

            Ami realized then how little she knew of Zach. She had met him a day ago, and she had no idea what he was really like. She couldn't tell what he was thinking about, and she didn't even know what kind of person he was. In trying to make her decision about the authenticity of his intentions, she could only pit her gut instinct and the sentiments of her friends against the frightening possibility that the whole thing was a joke after all.

            From nearly the moment she had arrived at the Corunis', she had become infatuated with Zachary–no matter how much she had tried to deny it. But she hadn't reached any personal part of him: he had remained a mysterious, charming guy whose actions were impossible to predict. 

            He was Jaden's brother, and Jade was the nicest guy she knew. He was Lita's cousin, and she really liked Lita, despite their having just met. Lita reminded her of an oak tree: solid and trustworthy. But Ami hadn't drawn the same feeling of warmth and security from Zachary. He was all light, heat, and passion. There was a sense of erratic instability around him...

            And Rei had warned her not to fall in love with him. Rei was her own cousin, and she knew and understood people much better than Ami did. Ami could only watch and wish she was participating in the thrilling, vibrant dance of life she was never included in. At any rate, Rei's words and thoughts counted more to Ami than anyone else's did...but Rei, too, had had some good things to say about Zach.

            It seemed that there were two personalities of Zach standing before her as she stared at the fire they had sat before together only yesterday. One of them stood before her with his hand outstretched invitingly, his lips curved into a roguish, seductive smile. He was surrounded, in her mind's eye, by beautiful girls. Behind him gleamed a life of parties, of mansions, of sophistication, and of money. It was a life that she had never wanted.

            The other version of him was less brightly colored. He was sitting at the piano, but his back was to her. The lizard she had seen in his room was curled on the piano. In the distance were Rei, Jaden, Serena, and Lita...and the intimate scene of the night before flashed before her eyes, when they had stood so close together, barely breathing. The ghost-like vision of him turned from the piano then and looked at her without recognition. 'I don't know you,' his brilliant green eyes seemed to say, 'and you don't know me.'

            Ami turned away from the fire, and the dream visions floated away. She covered her face with her hands and thought desperately, 'I want to go home. I want to be far away from here and all the trouble that's happened.'

            Suddenly, her attention was drawn by the snow falling gently outside. The snowflakes danced their way down from the heavens gracefully, twirling this way and that. Ami walked over to the window to admire the scene. The Corunis' gardens had looked wonderful before, but it seemed like a dreamland with its fresh coat of snow. 

            She curled up on the window seat and leaned her head against the wall. She pressed the fingertips of her right hand against the windowpane in a wistful gesture and looked out at the lone figure walking across the lawn.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            He reached a bench placed under a tree laden down with snow. He brushed the heavy white powder off the seat with his hands, ignoring the tingling sensation, and plopped down unceremoniously. He slouched low in the seat, leaned back, and heaved a great sigh. 

            At first, his shock and fury had been unparalleled when she'd told him that she was dating someone. He had lashed out against her internally–why hadn't she told him? What kind of game was she playing? Was it all some fun, meaningless diversion to her?

            It had infuriated him to see her standing by his room, but he had been crushed when she had whispered an apology to him. Zach realized that he knew close to nothing about her–and that he hadn't bothered to find out. He was humiliated to realize that in the beginning, it had begun as some kind of perverse challenge for him. He had wanted to see her flustered, and he had wanted her to fall in love with him–Ami Mizuno-Anderson, who had written him off as unworthy of her attention to years ago. 

            He had characterized her, simply, as one of his more spontaneously-decided challenges: a shy, naive little bookworm who would be completely taken with him. Then things had begun to change...for him, at least. 

            The first sign that she was much more than that had occurred in the foyer, when he'd nearly kissed her hand. She had blushed–and then given him the coldest look imaginable. It had only intrigued him further, and as time went on, he had found himself becoming more and more interested in her–to the point of infatuation. There hadn't been any part of her that he had disliked; she had been the most perfect person he had ever met. And this, he knew, could not be love.

            He wondered now, how wrong he had been. She was clever–had she been much smarter, slyer, and crueller than he'd imagined? Had it been some part of her intricately-designed plan to have Zach make a fool out of himself? Did she enjoy playing with his feelings and leading him on? It made him sick to think about it. 

            But his first impression of Ami stood vividly in his mind, with her exotic hair and clear blue eyes. Gradually, the books and conservative clothing faded from the picture. Rei, Lita, and Jaden congregated around her, and her eyes filled with laughter. They, too, departed from his mind's eye. She was left alone, and the polite smile had disappeared. Her expression was sorrowful, and she turned away from him to gaze into the distance.

            Zach was still caught up the air of mystery around her. What was her hidden side? Why didn't she just let everything go, and smile and laugh like she wanted to? Why couldn't she let people get to know the self she kept hidden inside of her?

            All of a sudden, he became aware of the piercing cold and headed for the house. He could only see one clear solution to his problem: he was going to talk to her and find out the truth. It didn't matter if he made a fool out of himself again; he had done it before. 

            As he approached the house, he heard a tapping noise. He looked up to see Ami–she was sitting by the window, watching him with a sad expression on her face. By his estimation, she was in the library. 

            She pursed her lips and blew on the glass so that it was misted over. Tracing the letters with her index finger, she wrote: _Will you talk to me?_

            It took him a few minutes to decode the message, because the words were opposite for him. While she wiped away the message, he considered thoughtfully. It was the hopeful look on her face that did him in and the baby blue eyes he had discovered that he could never resist. Zach nodded, and the relieved smile on her face made him feel as warm as if he was inside, sitting by the fire, with her. _Wait for me_, he wrote back. _I'm coming_.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            When he walked over to her, she was still sitting in the window seat, looking out at the darkening sky. She turned to face him at the sound of his footsteps–he smiled cautiously, but she was too nervous to. 

            Ordinarily, she would have avoided the subject forever, but she wanted to get everything off her chest. Her words spilled out in a rush as she asked, "About the dance...were you serious, Zach? Did you really mean it?"

            "Yes." 

            She flushed darkly. "I'm sorry–I'm really sorry, Zach. I thought...I thought that you might have been playing some kind of joke on me."

            Zach stared at her in amazement. It took a few minutes for her words to click, and then he thought about his own reaction to being turned down...going to flirt with all those girls. Suddenly, he burst out laughing at the irony of the situation. 

            He only stopped when she looked away, her eyes brimming with tears. He sat down next to her and took hold of her hands. "Ami–I'm sorry. Don't be angry with me. I only laughed, because...well, it's awful, but I thought you were trying to play some game with me too. We're impossible, you know that? I thought you were leading me on, and you thought I was fooling around with me. That was some communication problem, wasn't it?"

            She managed to laugh them, in her relief. He smiled gently, the smile of the piano player she had imagined. A heady wash of emotion washed over her again, but she couldn't help smiling brightly. "I'm sorry," she said again.

            "Don't be. Everything will be fine if you just answer one more question for me–do you really have a boyfriend, Ami?"

            She looked down at her hands and blushed. "No. I didn't mean to lie to you...but you asked me in front of all those people, and I was so afraid it would all turn out to be a joke."

            Zach was crestfallen. "Do you think I'm such an awful person?"

            Her eyes flashed indignantly. "We barely know each other, Zach! You thought I was the one leading you on, didn't you? I'd never do something like that."

            "I know. I'm sorry, too. But was I really that intimidating?"

            She laughed. "Only to me, I guess. No one's ever..well... I've never had a boyfriend, and you were creeping me out."

            "Boy...we really screwed up, didn't we? Let's have a new start. I won't be creepy and scary..."

            "And I won't judge you by our multiple past experiences together. Is it a deal?"

            "Sure." They suddenly found themselves at a loss for words after that. Ami looked away shyly, but Zach found that he just couldn't keep his eyes off her. 

            Finally, she looked back at him. "Didn't we just agree that you wouldn't be creepy anymore?"

            "Sorry...old habits are hard to break."

            Her curiosity got the better of her. "Are you going to the dance with one of those girls you were flirting with?"

            He grinned. "That depends."

            "Oh what?"

            "If you were jealous."

            Her eyes widened her outrage. "I just thought you had better taste," she said in a dignified tone.

            He laughed merrily. "I do, I do! But if you admit it, I'll tell you something equally embarrassing."

            "Fine. I _was_ a little jealous..."

            "While you were busy being jealous of me, I couldn't have cared less about those girls. But the seriously embarrassing part of the whole thing was how annoyed I was when you left with Jaden."

            Ami gasped. "What? You thought I liked him? But he–and Rei–"

            "I know, I know...but I wasn't thinking straight at the time," he said ruefully. "Anyway, I'm not going with any of them. I'll have to dance with them, of course, but I'm not spending the majority of the night with them." He took a deep breath. "Ami, if I ask you to the dance again, will you say yes?"

            "I'm not a very good dancer."

            "Liar," he accused.

            "What?"

            He grinned. "I saw you dancing with Nevan two years ago. After you turned me down and said that nothing in the world could ever convince you to dance with me."

            She blushed. "That was...different. It was more casual."

            He rolled his eyes. "Come on, Ames...don't you remember that you promised to dance with me yesterday?"

            "If I promise to dance with you–once–will you leave me alone?"

            "But you won't go with me?"

            "No. Please don't ask me again, Zach."

            He looked disappointed, but he conceded to her wishes without pressuring her. 

            Eventually, she asked, "Do you know if Jaden and Rei have made up yet?"

            He shrugged. "I haven't talked to him since lunch. I thought I saw her talking with him afterwards, though. The next time I see him, though, he's probably going to give me hell for the whole pool incident."

            "Mm. I'm sure it'll do you good–but it's not like you need any more of the devil in you."

            He stared at her. "Ami!"

            "Just kidding!" She giggled at his shocked expression. 

            When he finally got over the surprise, he ran a plan to get Jaden and Rei back together past her. "How about trying to get them to dance together? They can't kill each other in front of everyone, can they?"

            She looked unconvinced. "Why don't you just tell me what's going through that devious mind of yours?"

            He smiled innocently. "It's perfectly harmless. He'll ask you to dance sometime during the night...because you're friends. And if he doesn't, I'll drop a hint sometime. When I see that you two are dancing, I'll ask Rei to dance and maneuver over to you. Then we'll switch partners!"

            "That sounds cliche. They'll know right away."

            "No, they won't. They're too busy being mad at each other."

            She still looked uncertain. "And how exactly are we going to do that?" she asked.

            "Uh...I don't know. They do it all the time in the movies–it can't be that hard, can it?"

            "You are..."

            He inched closer to her, and she didn't move away. "I'm what?"

            "Absolutely..." It was getting hard to talk when she was feeling so breathless. 

            "Yes?" His smile was absolutely evil as his face bent closer to hers, intent upon her lips.

            "Insane," she finished, staring up at him. As he closed the distance between them at the slowest pace possible, she felt her heart beating faster and faster. Just as his lips were about to touch hers, the library doors banged open, and they sprang apart. 

            Lita smirked as she took in the scene: Ami, who had been perched precariously on the edge of the seat, had toppled onto the floor. Zach, who had at first been cursing the new arrival's timing, was laughing his head off. "I didn't mean to interrupt you two."

            "That's all right," Ami said, flushing scarlet, as Lita gave her a hand up. 

            "It's not all right with Zach," Lita teased.

            The blonde, who had been almost been paralyzed with laughter, froze as Ami turned an even darker red.

            It was Lita's turn to laugh. "You two...are just too predictable."

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AN: Not much to say except that the next update will not come as quickly as this one did, sorry. Loaded down with schoolwork and feeling under the weather….SAT II test coming up this Saturday. X.X For those of you who don't know what SAT IIs are…you don't know how lucky you are ^.~ 

            A marginally sappy chapter ^^;; is this a good thing?? I know the conversation Ami eavesdropped in was a little odd, but I tried ^^;; Also, please forgive any grammatical errors. I revise each chapter before posting, but I tend to miss things anyway ^^;; Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thanks for all the wonderful reviews J!

            ~Ice

P.S. Thanks for your review, Kaze. ^^ It's so touching that you're so interested in the story. I'll keep in mind the points you made (yes…they make lots of sense ;;), but hopefully I won't feel the need to revise & revamp anytime soon. Thanks again! J Please write "Legacy" if you have time.

(Yoshi, I promise to e-mail you soon!)


	11. How to Take a Compliment aka For Real?

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon and the majority of the characters in this story...nor do I own a bunch of objects in this chapter (Nigella's cookbook, Starbucks...).__

_Part III, Chapter 7_

            That night was Christmas Eve, and everyone was dolled up for the occasion–guys included. Jaden was suffering in his dress shirt, black pants, and tie, but to his right, Zach was in high spirits. On Jaden's other side was Lita, who looked striking in a soft, rose-pink dress. Due to some meticulous seating arrangements, Ami was seated directly across from Zach. 

            There was no way for her to avoid his piercing gaze–not that she wanted to anymore, anyway. Every time her eyes met his, the color rose a little higher in her cheeks, and the swooping sensation in her stomach was not entirely unpleasant. Ami found herself laughing more than usual: a light, bubbling laugh that was completely carefree and happy that night. Zach watched her closely–perhaps because Darien was seated at her side, across from Jaden.

            He really shouldn't have worried, for next to Darien was Serena, and the two seemed to have finally decided to stop pretending they weren't interested in each other. Serena was also wearing pink, although it was of a more vibrant shade than Lita's. Her hair was up in its customary meatballs. 

            Ami was safely ensconced between Darien and Rei, the latter of which was wearing a lavender-colored dress and a satisfied smirk. Ami wasn't sure she wanted to know the cause of her smug expression, so she refrained from asking. 

            Ami herself was wearing a white dress that glittered in the light and a pearl barrette in her hair. She and Darien were rapidly acquainted and soon began discussing their hopes to enter medical school during the first half of dinner. When he turned his attention to Serena, Ami chatted with Jaden, while Rei engaged Zachary in conversation. Neither Ami nor Zach noticed the devious looks on their respective cousin and sibling's faces, and Ami didn't even realize that other, less pleasant people were seated near them. She didn't pay them a single minute's attention the entire evening. 

            After dinner, they endured an amusing rendition of "The Night Before Christmas." Then the adults and their children branched off, but as Ami was about to make her way into the indicated drawing room, a warm hand wrapped itself around her arm and pulled her into an isolated, darkened hallway. She would have slapped the presumptuous stranger had she not recognized the emerald-green eyes glimmering at her in the dusk. "Zach!" she exclaimed quietly before he slipped his hand over her mouth.

            As they watched the others trickle by, he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "What do you say to ditching them?"

            She thought for a minute before throwing caution to the winds. She nodded, and he removed his hand from her mouth. However, she was still leaning against him, and his arm was around her waist. "Jaden's a bad influence on you."

            He smiled angelically, even though she couldn't see his face. "Funny. And all this time, I thought it was _me_ who was corrupting _him_. Let's go." 

            The door had closed behind Melissa Cromwell, the last person to enter the room. She was wearing a dark crimson dress and glancing around suspiciously, almost as if she suspected their escape.

            "What if someone notices that we're gone?"

            Zach smiled charmingly as he held his hand out to her. "Jade will cover for me, and Rei can cover for you! Unless..."

            She looked at him suspiciously. Already, she could tell when he was plotting against her. "Unless what?"

            "Unless you'd rather be in there exchanging catty comments about your clothing for tomorrow night instead of spending time with me." He raised his eyebrows suggestively. "Is there any chance you'll be telling me what you're wearing tomorrow?"

            Ami laughed at him. "Not a chance! I don't even know what I'm wearing myself–it's Rei's Christmas present to me. Besides, I wouldn't tell you even if I knew. It'll be a new dress...I can only hope it's not red, low, or short."

            "I don't know," he said thoughtfully, "the last two options don't sound too bad to me."

            She smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "Yes, well, you would say so. We're _friends_ now, remember? Friendship doesn't entail flirting unless you want to get on my bad side."

            He smirked. "We're standing in a dark hallway, alone; I've abducted you from everyone else, and you're merely concerned about flirting?"

            "There you go again," she sighed ruefully.

            Sensing that he had reached the limit–for the moment–Zach grabbed her wrist. "Speaking of going, let's run for it–someone's coming!" They ran down the hall together, Ami following his lead. She was regretting wearing those white, slipper-like shoes now.

            "Where are we going?" she asked when the coast was clear. 

            "Your room," he answered matter-of-factly.

            "What?! No!" she protested, turning as red as a tomato.

            He smirked at her. "I was only joking. But you seem awfully paranoid, Ami. Are you hiding something from me?"

            She rolled her eyes and said crushingly, "Don't flatter yourself. If I needed to hide something, I wouldn't be concerned about _you_ finding it."

            Zach was just now adjusting to the discovery of the sharp edge of her tongue. At first, it astounded him, but he learned to see the gentler humor lurking in her eyes and smile. "What are you going to be?" he asked unexpectedly.

            She opened her eyes wide. "What?"

            "What type of career are you planning to pursue?" he droned, reciting the question his guidance counselor had asked him recently.

            She laughed before answering, "I don't know, really."

            Zach, whose green eyes had closed lazily, reopened them. "Come on, don't hold back. An academically-driven girl like yourself has to have a goal in mind."

            Ami glanced at him suspiciously. They were standing in a hallway she was unfamiliar with (big surprise, considering the size of his house), and she leaned against the wall, placing her palms flat against it behind her. "What exactly do you mean by 'academically-driven?'"

            "Don't be modest. I've heard all about you–more along the lines of your grades." He grinned at her. "I'm still beating you in physics, by the way. You might want to pull your grades up a little."

            She bridled at the insult. "Yes, well, we can't all be geniuses like you."

            He moved closer to her, the laughter clear on his face. "It's so incredibly fun to provoke you. Don't be angry, Ames."

            "Who have you been hearing about my grades from, anyway?"

            He looked more amused than ever. "Oh, loads of people. Rei, Nevan... Most recently my mother."

            She groaned. "Don't tell me your parents are in on it, too."

            Zach blinked at her in confusion. "In on what?"

            Ami flushed and moved away, even though they had been standing quite close together for the past five minutes and she'd had no problem with it then. "If you don't know, I'm not telling you," she said firmly.

            "Aw...I can't believe someone's plotting something and I'm not in involved!" he complained.

            "It wouldn't be logical for them to include you if you're one of their victims."

            "Oh, that. I already know about that–the matchmaking plan, isn't it? It's hilarious."

            She glared at him. "Figures that you'd be pleased about it."

            He looked slightly hurt before he shrugged nonchalantly. "We've gone so far off-topic. Are you going to tell me or not?"

            It was Ami's turn to be confused. "Tell you what?"

            "What you want to be!"

            She giggled at his exasperated tone. "You lose patience a lot quicker than I expected. How can you be so annoyingly persistent about certain things and have so little patience with other things? I want to...go to med school."

            Zach raised his eyebrows, looking faintly surprised. "Going to be a surgeon?"

            "No. I'd like to be a pediatrician and work with children."

            "Hm. Well, that's nice...if you can stand the nasty little brats."

            Ami laughed at him. "Now that's being hypocritical. If I recall correctly, you were one of those 'nasty little brats' yourself nine years ago."

            He smiled impishly. "I grew out of it. You, however, don't appear to have changed so much. Although I'm relieved to see–and hear–that you cry less."

            "Hey! I'm also taller...more mature...and better able to take you down a few notches when you need it."

            He smiled sleekly. "I noticed. Luckily for me, there is an up side to this whole maturing aspect–it's given you a splendid figure."

            Ami's face crimsoned for the first time in awhile, and she turned away.

            Infuriatingly–as usual–he just got in her face again. "You have to learn to take a compliment," he said seriously. But he soon resumed his joker conduct. "For example, I'll say, 'Miss Mizuno-Anderson, I feel that you are a most attractive person.' You aren't supposed to blush now. You're supposed to respond, 'Why, Mr. Coruni, how charming you are!'" 

            He mimicked the ridiculous speech of their elders so well that she giggled. Then he continued, "Or it could be this: 'Ami, you look marvelous!' And you reply, "Thank you, Zach. You're a sharp dresser yourself.'" 

            He smiled smugly while she burst out laughing and swatted him on the arm. "Stop taking every opportunity to compliment yourself. It's not becoming."

            Zach shrugged blithely. "I see that you're blushing less than usual–tonight must be a rarity. I'm such a good influence on you! Next lesson: when flattered by dashing, handsome young gentlemen, don't blush–accept the compliments as your due. You only blush when a) you're flirting, b) the man is actually some old fuddy duddy who's friends with your parents, or c) the compliment is meaningful. To the giver, I mean," he added after a moment. 

            Ami raised her eyebrows. He seemed unsettled. "Well, I can't say I've ever gotten many of those–meaningful compliments!" she joked cheerfully. There was a strange expression on his face that made the heat rise in her cheeks before she hastily changed the subject, with none of her usual ease and grace. "We've gotten off-topic. So what do _you_ want to be?"

            "I don't know."

            "That's not fair...I told you!"

            He turned to face her, a sober expression on his face. "I really don't know, Ami. If I did, I'd tell you–but I don't. It's sort of like your dress." He cheered up slightly then as they heard music drifting up from the floor beneath them. "Look, they've started caroling...man, they sound awful."

            Ami hit him lightly. "That's not very nice. I doubt you could do much better. Don't be mean; it's Christmas Eve."

            "I know. Everyone keeps reminding me."

            "Then maybe you should start listening to them," she replied tartly. "It feels like we should be doing something...I don't know, special. Like sitting by the Christmas tree, watching the fire, putting up stockings." She flushed at his appalled look. Suddenly, he grinned in a way she wasn't sure she liked. "What are you thinking of now?"

            Zach, who had been staring fixedly at the ceiling for the past thirty seconds, turned to face her. "Hm. Something special and out of the ordinary, is it? I think I can help you with that."

            "Zach, I don't think that–why are you smiling like that?"

            "Mistletoe."

            "What? Oh..." She, too, looked up at the ceiling, where bunches of holly, evergreen cuttings, bows, and..._mistletoe_ had been hung along the wall. Her heart suddenly seemed to be beating very quickly. 

            Slowly, he reached out to her, and she did not step away. His hands touched her face first: carefully, gently, intimately. As he cradled her face in her hands, Ami looked up into his eyes, barely breathing. He was no longer smiling; his eyes were intensely green as they probed the softer, uncertain blue depths of her own. As his lips touched hers, her eyes closed, and she felt an indescribable joy spiral upwards inside her.  

            Ah. Cursed, blessed mistletoe!

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            The next morning, when she shook Rei awake, she was still smiling. "Merry Christmas!"

            The raven-haired girl rolled over with a groan. "No...sleep..."

            "Rei, it's Christmas morning, and we only have a half an hour before breakfast."

            That did the trick, but it didn't prevent Rei from glaring balefully at her cousin. However, she soon started to smile. Ami and Zach hadn't been present the night before, and she had been able to talk to Jaden as much as she wanted. They were in for a lovely surprise tonight...the thought never occurred to her that they had been together.

            When Rei had thrown a robe over her nightgown and combed her hair a bit (grumbling about its length all the while), they made their way to their parents' room. Kira and Richard were already awake, and the gift exchange began.

            Ami unwrapped the presents from her parents first, wanting to save Rei's for last. She had also resisted opening Mina's gift until now, preferring to wait until December twenty-fifth. Her father had given her a laptop, one of the newest models. She kissed him on the cheek, and he thanked her for the new briefcase she and Rei had chipped in for together. Kira had received a necklace and bracelet set from her husband, and they were sitting together hand-in-hand as Rei and Ami rolled their eyes at each other. 

            Ami read Mina's Christmas card, full of spirit and laughter. She pointed out a few misquotations to Rei, who laughed and showed her what Seren had given her–a cookbook entitled How to be a Domestic Goddess. "I think Meatball Head's trying to give a hint...the entire thing is on pastries and cakes and things like that. It's too bad for her that I can't make anything decent except tea!" Rei exclaimed.

            Mina's gifts to Ami were a pretty silver bracelet, a framed picture of Mina, Ami, and Rei taken the last time they had hung out together, and a new bathing suit she wasn't sure she could wear ("I know you would have appreciated some book more, but this is a lot more fun and much less scary than Grendish!" she had written). Ami sweatdropped. She hoped Mina meant Grendel. 

            She checked the size tag on the swimsuit, wondering if she could say it wasn't her size–she was positive that Mina had purposely forgotten to put in a gift receipt...but then again, it was Mina...there was a slight possibility that she had actually forgotten. "How did she know my size?" she wondered out loud.

            Rei grinned impishly. "I told her–actually, I was there when she picked it out last summer. We went shopping together while you and Nevan stayed in the bookstore. Don't you like it?"

            "Um..yeah, I guess...but don't you think it's–"

            "If you're not sure, you could always wear it for Zach and see what he says," she suggested with a mischievous look in her amethyst eyes.

            Ami turned scarlet–she wondered if her neck was also burning red this time. She hadn't told Rei about last night...she had, in fact, lost track of how much time they had spent in the hallway wrapped up in each other–almost literally. "_No_. I don't want to go anywhere near him wearing that," she said firmly, putting the article of clothing back into its box.

            Rei shrugged. "He's not so bad, is he? I think he's growing on you."

            'He was so close to me last night I'm surprised we're not permanently attached.' Ami mumbled something about how she supposed so and then unwrapped a small package wrapped in shimmery red paper. She caught her breath when a diamond necklace slithered out of the soft black pouch. "Mom?"

            Kira smiled at her. "My mother gave me a diamond on my sixteenth birthday. I figured that both of you should get one on Christmas. It's a special one this year, isn't it?"

            As Ami hugged her mother, she agreed silently. Rei was holding up her own necklace, looking at it without saying a word. Ami spotted the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes and quickly pulled Rei's giant green box towards her. Rei hated getting emotional in front of people. "Hm...should I be scared, Rei? I have a feeling that I'm putting my good-girl reputation on the line tonight."

            "It's nothing to be scared of," Rei answered, swiping at her eyes before thanking her aunt and uncle. "Just open it already!" She sounded more like her usual self then.

            Ami grinned and applied herself to undoing the complex bow. When she finally lifted the lid off to reveal the dress, she temporarily lost the power of speech. Rei smiled brightly and removed it for her, holding it up for inspection. "Well? What do you think?"

            The dress was about knee-length with thin spaghetti straps. It was a gleaming, pale blue shade that she adored, and it shimmered softly in the light. There was a silver ribbon that tied in the back and would leave two shiny streamers trailing behind her that night. The top of the dress was form-fitting, but under the ribbon, the folds of the dress fanned out in filmy swathes. "Oh...Rei...I don't know what to say!"

            "It's not red," Rei said helpfully, feeling slightly anxious.

            She let out a strangled giggle. "No, it's not red. It's beautiful! Thank you so much, Rei." 

            The nervous expression on her face faded, and she smiled brightly. "I knew I had good taste!" she laughed. "Try on the shoes," she urged, "I want to make sure they fit."

            Obediently, Ami riffled through the tissue paper until her hands contacted two hard objects. She pulled them out and looked at them closely–silver-colored, with heels. Heels that were much higher than what she was used to wearing...not that they were excessively tall; they were the type of shoes that Rei wore often and with no trouble at all. Ami preferred shoes with slightly lower heels, but she hoped she could manage for a night. The bright side of this was that she was usually the shortest girl in the group, but tonight, she could be taller.

            It occurred to her that she might even be on eye level with Zach tonight. He wasn't extremely tall, perhaps of medium height for a guy. Not like Kunthan, who gave her neck aches when she had to look up at him all the time. It was lucky that Mina wasn't a shrimp like her, she thought. 

            "Great! They fit perfectly," Rei said, clapping her hands.

            Ami looked down at her feet, suddenly drawn back to the present. "Oh, right!" she agreed, smiling somewhat dazedly. 

            Her cousin chattered on unconcernedly, even though she was watching Ami closely. 'She won't know what hits her.'  

            "Now, we're all going to get ready together tonight! You'll let Serena do your hair, won't you? Even though she only puts her own in meatballs all the time, she can work wonders with hair. And Lita will join us, too."

            Ami nodded, letting the enthusiastic stream of words flow by her. Even though she had been dreading the ball for the past week, she was actually looking forward to it now...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Hello?"

            "..."

            "Yeah, it's me."

            "..."

            "Oh, hi, Christie. What's up?"

            "..."

            "Merry Christmas to you, too."

            "..."

            "So how've you been?"

            "..."

            "Yeah, I'm fine. No, I'm not dating anyone right now. Are you still dating Devon?"

            "..."

            "He _what_?"

            "..."

            "Yeah, of course I don't mind. It'll be just like old times. But this is just for a while, right? And so he doesn't make trouble for you?"

            "..."

            "No problem. Thursday at two? In front of Starbucks?"

            "..."

            "All right, I'll be there. See you then. Bye."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   The gala would start around seven o'clock and last until past midnight; girls began retreating to their rooms and refusing to emerge starting at around three o'clock in the afternoon. Lita, Serena, Rei, and Ami were more restrained. After lunch, they spent the beginning of the afternoon hogging Jaden, Darien, and Zach, who were very happy to be monopolized. 

            They trooped around outside, turning red at the cheeks and ears, until an impromptu snowball fight began. It was girls against guys, and the latter won the expected, landslide victory.

            Ami was laughing as Lita chased Jaden around for stuffing a snowball down her jacket, and Darien was standing with his arm around Serena. Zach stole the perfect opportunity and lobbed a snowball gently that hit Ami right in the face, exploding and plastering her with snow. Her mouth also filled with snow; she spit it out, wiping at her face. 

            Laughing, he clumped his way over to her and brushed away the snow with his scarf. He checked furtively to make sure no one was watching before kissing her quickly. "Ow, your lips are so cold!" he complained, pulling away.

            "Well, who's fault is that?" she retorted before scooping up an armful of snow and dumping it on his head. 

            No one noticed that at one point during the fight, Jaden had Rei pinned against the ground and was kissing her amid the frenzy of snowballs being hurled every which way. Once everyone had regrouped, they were back to being their stilted selves, giving the impression that they were currently in an "off-again" phase of their relationship.

            Dozing over her steaming mug of hot cocoa, Lita muttered to Serena, "You'd think that they'd at least get back together for Christmas."

            The blond-haired girl nodded emphatically, squealing when Darien stole one of her marshmallows. 

            After they had finished their hot chocolate, they curled up in front of the fire to play a board game; because there were only five playing pieces, Ami and Zach occupied themselves with a game of chess. She won by a clever move and declared "Checkmate!" confidently.

            He shook his head, baffled. "Wow. I didn't figure you for the chess-playing type."

            She smiled that half-shy, half-mischievous smile. "Well, I didn't think you were 'the chess-playing type' either. How long have you been playing?"

            "Mm..I don't know. Middle school, maybe? I was bored and learned it off a computer game."

            "Really? You taught yourself? Dad taught me, but he doesn't play much anymore. Rei thinks it's boring, and Mina got a little confused when I tried to explain it to her...but I've played with Kunthan before."

            Looking up as Jaden won their game, Lita suggested, "Speaking of Kunthan and Mina, let's give those two lovebirds a call and make sure they're not up to anything."

            A laughing conversation on the speaker phone (with everyone chiming in at once, making it almost impossible for anyone in particular to be heard) ascertained that Mina and Kunthan were enjoying a nice, safe holiday together. Kunthan's parents adored Mina (no surprise there), and she wanted him to meet her mother and father over spring break (he was a little nervous about that).

            Just as they hung up the phone, Aileen and Kira came into the room with two heavy boxes in their arms. The boys gave them a hand, and the women beamed at the group. "Would you guys like to decorate the trees in the ballroom? We were thinking of asking all of the 'younger generation,' but most of the girls seem to be up in their rooms, getting dressed."

            They all thought that it would be a fun activity, and when Zach and Jaden threw open the doors dramatically, they knew that the ball would be a blast. There were two sparkling chandeliers, glistening in the afternoon sunlight. They would sparkle even more when the multitude of light bulbs nestled among the crystal pendants were lit. The ceiling was made of mirrors that would reflect the swirling dancers that night, and there were lots and lots of windows that stretched from the floor almost to the ceiling along the walls. The lights on the rose-colored walls were ornate, done in twisting flower patterns of pink and gold with green leaves.

            "The place looks great!" Serena chirped. "Do you guys entertain here often?"

            Jaden shook his head. "Nope. It's way too fancy for most things. But this year, Mom's started going on and on about having our wedding receptions here...she's gone completely nuts about it...it makes me seriously consider eloping."

            There was one towering evergreen tree in the front of the ballroom, two smaller ones along the sides, and one medium-sized tree against the back wall. They agreed that they would trim the smaller trees first, in groups, before decorating the largest one together. Somehow, Ami and Zach found themselves together by a tree in the back. Serena and Darien were at one of the side trees; Jaden, Rei, and Lita worked on the other tree opposite to them together. Halfway through the decorating, Kira and Aileen arrived with more boxes, and everyone dug in eagerly to unearth the beautiful ornaments.

            "Oh, look, stars!" Lita exclaimed, holding up the tree-toppers.

            Darien and Jaden went off to get step stools while the rest of them continued decorating the trees. Zachary turned to Ami, holding up a string of lights with a rather bewildered expression on his face. "Um...I think we should've put these on first."

            "It's all right. As long as we're careful around the ornaments, it should still look good."

            Fifteen minutes later, Zach was holding one end of the lights, looking sheepish, while Ami and the tree were entangled in the other part of the strand. Lita, Rei, and Serena came over to enjoy the spectacle as he apologized, "Sorry...I'm not very adept at this."

            "How did it happen??"

            "I don't know! Stringing these lights are hard," he said defensively. "Turn around. No, other way. Okay. Get that piece out from under your arm..."

            Just as Ami was finished spinning around and stumbled into Zach, Darien and Jaden reappeared with two stools. Jaden snickered at the scene. "Are you practicing for tonight? Because if you are, I'd advise you to be a little more careful, Zach. Twirling your partner doesn't mean she has to fall into you."

            Zach gave him an evil glare, and they started putting two angels on the side trees. As Darien and Serena were hanging the silver star at the top of the tree in the back, the others moved to the front. "Okay, who's doing it? Someone tall–"

            "And not too heavy," Jaden added. To prove his point, the back stool suddenly folded in on itself and collapsed, dumping Darien on the ground. "Darien? Are you all right?"

            After a probing glance, Rei turned away. "Yeah, he has Sere to fuss over him. He'll be fine. Why don't you do it, Lita?"

            The brunette shrugged. "Sure." As she was trying to maneuver the golden star into place, it suddenly slipped through her fingers and bonked Zach on the head.

            "Ouch!" he yelled, rubbing his head. 

            "Oh, sorry!" Lita called.

            Jaden walked over to him and said in a serious voice, "Zach, how many fingers am I holding up?"

            He blinked once, feeling slightly cross-eyed, before he shoved his brother's hand away. "One, you idiot!"

            "Just checking."

             He snickered as Darien laughed good-naturedly, but Rei rolled her eyes. "Please, let's be a little more mature than that. Zach is fine–it's not like losing a few brain cells is going to affect him."

            "Are you sure? He might not have any left!" Jaden joked as Zach shoved him. 

            While that inflammatory debate was going on, Ami picked up the star and gave it back to Lita, who put it up with no further mishaps. She climbed down, surveyed the room, and nodded happily. "Looks good!"

            Rei detached herself from the argument between Jaden and Zach and checked her watch. "Five o'clock. Let's go, guys."

            "What? Already?" Jaden said, looking disappointed.

            Serena stuck her tongue out at him. "Other people need four hours, you know. Be glad we're restrained and are only using two."

            "But...can't you go just are you? I mean, you'll look beautiful, no matter how much time you take."

            Jaden and Zach exchanged appalled looks. Was this guy for real??

            The girls were also asking themselves the same question but with different sentiment behind it. Lita, starry-eyed, turned to Serena. "Oh, you're so lucky to have a guy like that!"

            He blushed as the two blondes shot him annoyed looks. "What's wrong with you, Darien?!"

            Serena, meanwhile, threw her arms around her hapless boyfriend. "You're so sweet, Muffin!"

            "I changed my mind," Jaden choked out through gasps as he laughed hard, "I don't envy you anymore."

            Rei, looking more than a little annoyed, said, "Nice try but no cigar, Darien. We're leaving no matter what. And you two morons–try to look presentable tonight, won't you?"

            Trying to keep a straight face, Zach replied, "We'll do our best, Rei."

            "Now that you mention it," his brother added mock-thoughtfully, "we might still have our Halloween costumes around. I wonder if they still fit?"

            Lita made a face. "Please tell me you threw those disgusting creations of yours away."

            "What were they?" Serena asked curiously.

            "I don't think I really want to know," Rei sighed.

            "Swamp monsters. They used real sludge."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   

AN: I'm so sorry we didn't intersect the ball yet ^^;; but it was fun anyway, right? I promise that sometime this week (probably Friday or close to it) the next chapter will be posted. It was originally one big monster (maybe 4x the size of a normal chapter), so I cut it in half and have to finish the last chunk...

            I'm sorry it's taken me forever to update . but thanks to Kaze, K. Wyse, and Yoshi for prodding me to update! ^.~ 

            Overall, it is a sappy and fluffy chapter (next chapter's even worse)–but HP 5 depressed me, so–yay! But hey...fluff is good! Of course, the season's all wrong ^^;; I should be writing this around Christmastime, not in this sweltering heat...

Note: A while ago…(sorry, reviewer ^^;) someone asked if Ami and Zach were 14. They were seven in Part 1, fourteen in Part 2, and are probably around 16 here (I estimated 18 before, but they're still acting pretty immature ^.~). Sorry for the late reply!

Replies to review for Chapter 10:

_Sailor Princess_: Yeah, me too! Thanks for the review!

_Seien_: Well, they've kissed now J

_L.Silver Star_: Thank you! I'm not good at "laugh out loud" humor, so I'm glad you find it funny!

_Tania_: Wow, your review made me think about this chapter for a while ^^; I didn't know if Ami was really the type to have the hottest dress out of everyone, so I made give it to her for a Christmas present. Thanks for the good wishes!

_(no name)_: Thanks!

_Washi_: Ooh…sorry! No dance yet! Later this week, I promise.

_Graceful Angel_: Thank you!

_Suisei no mitsukai_: Hi! Nice to see you again. Thank you for the review!

_Kikiki_: Heh ^^; I've written more, really!!

_Innocent Dreamer_: Hi again to you, too!

_Jabba (abby)_: Thank you for the praise. SAT IIs are tests for specific subjects (i.e. Biology, Chemistry, writing) while the SATS you know about are just general math and verbal skills. They're evil ^^;; Thanks for the good wishes!

_Sakura_: Wow, I'm so flattered that you like this fic! Although…I like a lot of Ami/Zoi fics ;; maybe there aren't enough. Thanks for saying good luck!

_Be_: Thanks so much J I like the window scene, too…

_Aer-seph4eva_: I'm glad that I have Zoisite portrayed all right **phew** He's hard to work with. Thanks for reviewing!

_Nova_: Thanks **blush** Lita meets Nevan next part for sure (don't worry, only 2 more chapters to wait)

_Yoshee_: Thanks a lot!

_K. Wyse_: Hi Wyse! **Hugs** Thanks for the points (visit Shittenou, everyone!). ^^ Angst dosage coming right up…thank you! Hope you update soon J

_M.J_: Heh ^;; Thank you!

_Roganu-chan_: Aw, thanks! **Blush** My gosh…you'll never guess what happened! It's been awhile since the review ^^;; but I wrote "oof" into the next chapter!! Great coincidence J Look for oof in Chapter 8, said by Zach ^^

_Ellen_: Thank you J 

_Silver Running Water_: Interesting name! Wow, you haven't read Ami/Zoi before? ;; They're so cute together! Thank you for the compliments ^.~

_Kaiya_: Hi!! They've kissed, really!

_Crissy_: Aw, but Lita's lonely alone…she's had enough angst. Ami and Zach, however, have much more ahead of them—yay! This has sort of mutated into an Ami/Zach fic with Rei/Jade subplot. Wow…your review was thought-stimulating! Thank you!

_Isis Aurora Tomoe_: Hello! Thanks for the review and hope your own writing is going well.

If I've forgotten anyone…please forgive me!! ;; I regret that I was unable to do this for earlier chapters…but felt I owed it to you all for being so late ^^;; Thanks a bunch!

            ~Ice


	12. Aftermath of a Kiss

_Author's Note_: And here we have the long-awaited ball.... Thanks for reading and reviewing, everyone :) The mysterious phone conversation was between one of our familiar characters (guess who) and presumably a friend (or more specifically ex-girlfriend) named Christie. ^.~ If you can't figure it out, check back next chapter!

**I regret to inform you that I'll be leaving on vacation, for a place where I will be unable to write or access a computer...but I'll hopefully rack up plenty of fic ideas. Be back August 4!! 

_Part III, Chapter 8_

            Eighty minutes later, locked into Rei's room with the others scrambling into their dresses and shoes and fiddling around with makeup and jewelry, Ami was forcibly seated in a chair before the vanity. 

            She was in her dress, the silver ribbon had been tied in an immaculate bow, and she was wearing her diamond necklace, Mina's bracelet, and earrings. They weren't her usual, simple blue dots: the little star-shaped jewel at her ear was still blue, but tiny silver chains ending in more stars dangled from it. Because they were so small, they weren't garish or ostentatious.

            She was promptly lost in the confusing jabber of voices. "You know...I really don't want to wear this make makeup..."

            "It's just a little bit," Serena said comfortingly before turning to confer with the other two.

"How about this eyeshadow? Or no–that one!"

            "Are you sure you like that lip liner?"

            "Hm..it's a little too dark for her. We'd better stick with a lighter color."

            "Do you have any more foundation?"

            "Ooh, wipe it off, wipe it off!!"

            Ami was afraid to look in the mirror for fear of catching a glimpse of the face of the horrible monster she must resemble by now.

            "Okay, hold still now."

            She felt a slight pressure on her eyes.

            "Open them a little..."

            A black brush came into her vision and began attacking her eyelashes. They began feeling heavier and slightly sticky.

            "Oh, Rei, you're so good at this! There aren't any clumps! Now, make sure you don't cry tonight, Ames."

            She smiled nervously. "I'll try not to." Then Lita yelped, for she had been putting on some lip gloss. From that point on, Ami was forbidden to move or speak unless directed.

            "Silver eyeshadow or blue eyeshadow?"

            "Blue!"

            "Silver!"

            "Ami, you're the one wearing it, so what do you think?"

            "Don't ask me! I just want to get out of here!!" was her response.

            Rei nodded decisively. "Blue it is!"

            When she was allowed to open her eyes at last, Ami relieved to see that she still looked a lot like her normal self–just jazzed up a bit. They hadn't put that much makeup on her after all; her eyelids were dusted with a pale blue that matched her dress, her complexion looked much better, and her lips looked perfect. She wasn't caked with makeup and bright red lipsticks like the other girls used. 

            "What do you think?" Lita asked, proud of their work.

            "Um...looks good, I guess. Thanks, guys!"

            "No problem! Okay, Sere, you're the next victim..." 

            While Serena went willingly to her doom, Ami plopped down on the bed and looked at her friends. Serena was wearing a white dress, and she looked like an angel. Strings of milky white pearls circled her meatballs, and she wore golden moon earrings. Lita was wearing a forest green dress because it was her favorite color–"even though it's tacky wearing green on Christmas."

            Rei had smiled. "We're a matched set then, because I'm wearing red."

            Lita's dress was more daring than Ami's, not quite as bold as Rei's. Her heels weren't very high, because she disliked being taller than all the guys in the room. Rei's dress was a shockingly bright red, but it suited her well.

            Ami, who was feeling slightly envious of Rei's exotic beauty, hoped that Jaden would notice how beautiful she looked. She was feeling a little apprehensive about Zach's plan...she hoped he had forgotten about it by now. An angry Rei was not something to be trifled with.

            "Ami...wake up...."

            She realized that she had been staring into space for the past ten minutes.

            "Come on, girl...it's time to go!" was Lita's contribution.

            Her face pale, she looked up, aghast. "What, already?"

            "No duh, genius."

            "Ignore Rei. She's grouchy about the red carpet treatment," Serena teased, her eyes sparkling.

            Her mouth fell open. "'Red carpet treatment?' What are you talking about??"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I'm _not_ walking down that." Ami's eye were huge as she looked at the magnificent, spiraling staircase–and the girls who were strutting down ahead of them to the raucous cheers of the young men. The adults were waiting in the ballroom, sipping champagne, chatting, and wandering around, admiring the decorations they had put up earlier.

            "Yes, you are," Rei said firmly, giving her a little push.

            "Alone?"

            "Alone," Lita confirmed with a little sigh. "It's so romantic! If only I had a guy waiting down there for me..."

            Rei gave her an odd look. "Don't you have a date?"

            The brunette chuckled sheepishly. "Oh, yeah. I forgot. But it's only Ken...we're just friends."

            Serena was flittering around excitedly, her eyes shining. "Ooh, it's so much fun! Can I go first? Can I, can I?"

            "Yeah, whatever. Just calm down before you give yourself a heart attack, meatball head. Darien's not a med student yet–the only CPR he can give you is the kind we've already seen you doing...all too often."

            The blonde gave her friend a very cold look before she cracked and giggled for a good thirty seconds. 

            'At this rate,' Ami thought cheerfully, 'I may not even _have_ to go down this stupid thing!' Then a new thought suddenly occurred to her. 'I wonder who Zach's date is...?' As she watched Serena floating gracefully down the stairs (Rei had closed her eyes and was praying under her breath), she felt a plummeting sensation in her stomach. Serena practically ran into Darien's arms, and the lovebirds, completely absorbed in each other, left for the ballroom.

            She turned to Rei and Lita, who were watching her expectantly. "I can't do this."

            "Yes, you can! Come on, Ami, don't back out now...look, there's Zach!"

            She covered her face with her hands. "I feel sicker than ever."

            "Oh, look, he's waving at us!" Lita chirped, waving back so heartily that she could have been signaling a lifeguard. 

            Ami snatched her hands away from her face and stared down into the bewildering crowd of faces. There he was–his curly hair tamed, for the moment, and neatly pulled back at the nape of his neck. It gave her a sort of perverse pleasure to see the challenge in his eyes, and she held her head up high as she descended down the stairs without another word.

            Rei and Lita were close behind her, their surprised glances fixed on Ami–until Rei spotted Jaden. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            As she sailed down the last turn of the staircase, her left hand resting gently on the well-polished banister, Ami failed to see the treacherous, high-heeled shoe that shot out and craftily tripped her. 

            Ami stumbled down the last few steps in a rather clumsy manner and toppled into Zach, who let out a surprised "oof" as he caught her before he (grinning devilishly) set her on her feet. "Twice in one day, Ami?" He turned to Jaden and joked, "I told you all the girls were throwing themselves at me–and you didn't believe it!"

            Ami, who had been about to thank him, wrinkled her nose at him. He grinned at her and said, "It's lucky for me that you're so light. I might have sustained serious injury otherwise."

            "I hate you," she said flatly.

            His eyebrows flew upwards. "What? I thought I was complimenting you!"

            "Were you the one who thought of this insane spectacle?" she asked in an accusatory tone, waving at the decoration-clad staircase.

            He smirked and replied promptly, "Nope. It was all my mom...I swear."

            "Oh...sorry," she apologized, blushing.

            Zach winked. "No problem. Although I appreciated it a lot–ten minutes of ogling you in that dress, and you never noticed!"

            She swatted him on the arm. "Save it for your date."

            He blinked. "What, didn't I tell you? I don't have one." He smiled as she stared at him, aghast. "Since you wouldn't let me ask you, I don't have a choice–we'll go alone but together."

            "Your mom is going to kill you...I already had a minor talking-to from my parents....

            He slung his arm around her casually. "Don't worry about it. She knows. By the way, I wasn't just flattering you before–you really do look great." He switched abruptly from his cocky, bantering tone to a softer (and gruffer) voice that was much more genuine.

            Ami smiled happily and said, "You look...."

            "Marvelous? Smashing? To-die-for handsome, as usual?"

            "I was just going to say 'nice.' I'm telling you, it's not attractive for you to be complimenting yourself every other sentence," she teased.

            "But it's agreed that bloated ego aside, I'm very attractive?"

            Jaden rolled his eyes, having already taken the opportunity to pay his respects to Rei. "Please, you two, stop flirting and let's go."

            Ami, Zach, Jaden, Rei, Lita, and Ken set off together, amidst cheerful arguing, even though only two of the six were officially a couple. Aileen (and a number of young ladies) had been grieved to discover that both of her sons were extremely insistent upon the fact that they were going dateless to the gala. 

            Melissa gritted her teeth as she watched them go, ignoring her clueless date. 'Urgh..I was so close! Maybe if I had actually kicked her in the ankle... Who does that bitch think she is, anyway?'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            The first dance was rather boring: it was a sappy, romantic Christmas song that the parents and couples danced to–Rei, Ami, Jaden, and Zach sat it out, watching their parents act embarrassingly childish. 

            As soon as it was over, faster songs began to play, and Jaden and Zach were both asked to dance. Zach couldn't ask Ami to dance yet, because he was still waiting for the perfect moment to put his plan into action...while he was busy thinking about it, he neglected to pay much attention to Melissa Cromwell, his current dance partner.

            He noticed, however, when Ami made her way to the dance floor (blushing slightly) with some guy who he couldn't quite identify but suddenly disliked. A lot.

            Lita stood by the refreshment table while Ken took a turn with Rei, sampling the tiny desserts. Her thoughts ranged from "I could do better" to "Mm, good...I need to get the recipe for this one!" 

            She was rudely interrupted when Jaden showed up at her elbow looking surly. "Dance. Now."

            "Not if you ask that way. What's your problem, anyway? Why can't you dance with Rei?"

            "Because she's dancing with Ken," he answered matter-of-factly.

            His cousin rolled her very green eyes. "I meant, why aren't you two a couple?"

            He grinned suddenly. "It was my idea! Or, it was my idea after much groveling. You know Rei and I had a fight last week, so we were pretty pissed off at each other until Ami told me to apologize. We decided it would be a good idea to make things between us look cool for a while. When they're both free, I'll ask Ami to dance. That'll be Rei's signal to snag Zach. Then we'll 'accidentally' meet up. Ami and Zach, the kindhearted, completely oblivious souls that they are, will probably suggest that we switch partners, thus giving us a chance to make up. Never mind that we already did plenty of that."

            Lita put on a disgusted face. "I don't need to hear about that, Jade. You're my cousin, and Rei's one of my best friends. You're going to make me sick."

            Jaden laughed delightedly and replied, "You wouldn't feel sick if you didn't gorge yourself."

            "So if that's your brilliant plan, why are you asking me to dance?"

            "Because Zach's dancing with someone right now, and so's Ami, and so's Rei," he said hurriedly, catching a glimpse of his pursuer.

            "So wait," was her unsympathetic response.

            "I can't!"

            Melissa joined their merry little crowd. "Hi, Jaden," she purred. In a less seductive voice, she said, "Hello, Lita." Then, in a mock-surprised tone, she inquired, "Oh, were you two talking? I don't mean to interrupt..."

            As she trailed off, Lita gritted her teeth in annoyance. She had spoken so that they had no choice but to tell her no, she wasn't interrupting anything, and that they were delighted to see her. "That's fine," she said stiffly with a falsely sweet smile. So _this_ was who he was running away from. She couldn't really blame him.

            Melissa ignored her from that point on. "Jade, sweetie, would you dance with me?"

            "Um–actually–Lita–"

            Melissa swung around to face her, and Lita raised her eyebrows as Jaden mouthed "save me!". But she still hadn't forgive him for that "gorging" comment. "I think I see my date waving to me...hi, Ken! I'll be there in a minute!" Ken was, in fact, nowhere near them. "Jade and I were going to dance, but I'll have to give him a rain check," she informed Melissa with an evil smile. Lita then turned to Jade and suggested in an innocent voice, "Why don't you dance with Melissa?"

            He gave her a frigid look as she tripped off, laughing to herself, and resigned himself to another (couple) dance(s) with the clingy brunette...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            At first, Ami had been flattered by Saffir's attention, had soon become a little annoyed by his fixation upon her. He was constantly at her side with his sleek smile, pressing cookies on her, complimenting her on everything from her hair to her shoes, and asking her to dance.

            She glanced around the room, searching for Rei, Zach, anyone: they were all busy. Jaden was dancing with that hussy Melissa, smiling as if he had a toothache and listening dutifully. He wasn't even flirting with her...perhaps he thought it was dangerous to encourage her. Rei was trying to rescue Serena from a guy with white-blond hair, and Lita was currently dancing with Darien. 

            "Ami, your lips are like two flawless rose petals..."

            "Thank you," she replied automatically, barely listening to Saffir anymore. He was really getting on her nerves. Why couldn't she spot Zach in the crowd? Ami began feeling nervous. The last time she had seen him, he'd been dancing with a blonde girl named Belinda...Rei's words about his blond preference echoed in her mind. "Excuse me," she said politely, "I have to use the ladies' room."

            She left Saffir quickly, ignoring his disappointed expression. She slipped out of the ballroom, which looked even more gorgeous than it had in the afternoon. She just wished she could actually enjoy it...how had she gotten separated from Rei, Lita, and Serena??

            Ami wandered through the halls closest to the ballroom, scrupulously avoiding couples who were making out in dark corners. Her stomach flip-flopped: were Zach and Belinda one of them? She _really_ didn't want to check...

            The murmur of lowered voices drew her to another hallway. She peeked around the corner cautiously, but when she spotted Zach's coppery hair, she ducked back, flattened herself against the wall, and prepared to eavesdrop shamelessly.

            She caught the tail end of something Belinda was saying.... Her voice was, Ami thought a trifle enviously, smooth like black velvet. Her own voice was a bit girlish, high and sweet instead of dark and elegant.

            Then Zach laughed–not his careless, breathtaking laugh that was heard when hew as genuinely amused. It was his often insincere "flirting" laugh that Ami had heard two summers ago at the beach.

            Suddenly, he went silent, and Ami looked around the corner again to find the two of them kissing and pressed close together; Belinda had her arms around Zachary's neck. She practically had him in a stranglehold. Ami let out a small gasp before running back into the ballroom, hoping they had been too "involved" to hear her. 

            Rei grabbed her arm as she went past her. "Ami! I've been looking for you all over–is everything okay?"

            "Yes," she heard herself say tonelessly, "everything's fine."

            Her heartbeat thudded dully in her ears. 'Fine...fine...fine..fine. I'm not fine.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            The rest of the night passed somewhat unhappily for Ami, Zach, Jaden, Rei, Serena, and Darien. Ami and Zach were never partner-less, and Ami was determined to escape Zach. Jaden and Rei were frustrated–it looked like they would never get a chance to dance. Lita and Ken seemed oblivious to the problem, dancing happily and chatting up a storm.

            Jaden perked up. Now looked like a good time...no, Zach went to dance with Emily.

            Rei's purple gaze was intent as she raised her eyebrows pointedly at Ami, who was standing alone by the refreshment table. Jaden plunged towards her rapidly but halted in his tracks when Saffir crossed his path.

            Ami she smiled up at Saffir, who handed her a glass of champagne–which she refused but which he kept pressing on her.

            "No, thank you. I don't really care for champagne."

            Saffir would have protested more, but he saw his brother Demando signaling him from across the room. His brother was having problems wresting Serena away from Darien.

            Ami sighed with relief and went to hide in the shadow of one of the smaller Christmas trees. Zach, spotting her at last, disentangled himself from Emily and made his way over to her. She was looking in the opposite direction, so she jumped what seemed like ten feet to Zach when he put his hand on her shoulder.

            "Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. But there's no need to be so jumpy."

            When she was over her initial surprise, she gave him a cool look. "No, there isn't."

            Zach's eyebrows rose almost to his hairline. As the night had gone on, he hadn't seen her blush since the first time Saffir had showered her with compliments. She had put on her ice-princess mask, and it seemed that it wasn't coming off, not even for him. "Hey, do you think it's a good time to put the plan into motion? Both Rei and Jade are free."

            "Are you sure you wouldn't rather spend more time with Belinda? You looked very cozy together. Or perhaps Melissa or Emily would be more to your tastes, since you seem to have finished _dancing_ with Belinda."

            He stared at her, his mouth agape. "What–what are you talking about?!"

            Her lips were tight as she looked away, pointedly ignoring him. Then Saffir showed up, taking no notice of the fuming Zachary. "Ami, would you like to dance?"

            "Of course, Saffir."

            Zach's eyes narrowed, and he strode over to Rei, who was patting Serena on the back. Darien and Demando were having a fight over her, and Jaden was breaking it up. "Why didn't you tell me Saffir was all over her?" he hissed.

            The raven-haired girl looked up. "Saffir? All over who? Who is he, anyway?"

            He turned her in Ami and Saffir's direction. "He's been hanging over Ami all night!" It was true, even though he'd only been witness to that one time. He had been too busy trying to remember all the girls' names, and he had missed the ten-odd times they had danced. 

            "Is that a problem? She's allowed to have fun, you know."

            "Not that kind of fun," he answered grimly. "Saffir and his brother Demando are my third cousins. They're complete womanizers."

            Rei smirked. "Who in your family isn't? Ami can handle herself."

            "Ordinarily, I'd say yes. But Saffir and Demando are persistent–and Demando was expelled from his last school for stalking a girl. It was more than just following her around campus; he managed to fix cameras in the girls' showers."

            "Oh, that's sick!"

            "I know. Saffir's the younger brother, and he idolizes his brother. He's also much sneakier and a lot smarter."

            "Hm..." Rei was beginning to feel worried herself. Demando had given Darien a bloody nose (outside the ballroom, of course), and Serena had now returned to fluttering over her date. "Zach, they're not here anymore."

            "What?!"

            "They must have left." Her eyes were huge now. "Ami wouldn't have left here...not with him. Not under any circumstances," she declared with great conviction.

            Zach's eyes were stormy as he commanded, "Stay here in case they come back in. I'll check outside."

            She nodded, biting her lip as she watched him go.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Saffir, what are we doing out here?"

            She stopped speaking abruptly when he pushed her against the wall, hard. 

            "Stop it! That hurts!"

            "I knew I wanted you from the moment I saw you, Ami. And then, when I heard that my dear cousin Zachary was after you as well, I knew I had to have you."

            "What are you–"

            Her question was cut off as he pressed his lips to hers, hard.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Zach turned around the corner and halted in his tracks when he saw Saffir and Ami kissing. Then he ran forward and yanked him off her. "What the hell are you doing?!"

            "Get off me!" Saffir growled.

            Ami was wiping her mouth frantically on her wrist when she saw Zach drawing back his feet. She leapt forward and grabbed his arm. "No–Zach, don't!"

            Saffir chose that opportune moment to disappear, sneering at them. 

            They stood looking at each other for what seemed like forever–it was only seconds, for Ami was jolted back into reality by the stinging of her lips. She dropped his arm as if burned and turned away, fighting back tears. She couldn't help but think that Saffir's kiss was so different from Zach's...so different.

            "What were you doing out here?" His voice sounded deadened.

            She didn't reply; she couldn't trust herself to speak at the moment. Half of her wanted to turn around and hug him, needing to feel his secure warmth. The other half of her was still furiously angry about seeing him with Belinda.

            Incensed, Zach turned around and stalked back into the ballroom, leaving her alone in the hallway. Ami wiped her eyes quickly, and when she was sure that she could face everyone again, reentered through the large double-doors.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Young Zachary, is it? ... You seem to be quite popular with the ladies. You know who I really think you should take a turn with? Miss Mizuno-Anderson..."

            "Ah, that angel Ami?" a plump older woman asked.

            "Yes, Richard and Kira's daughter. She's quite pretty and a very graceful dancer. I'm quite fond of her myself."

            "Thank you, sir," he said coldly, unwilling to continue this conversation.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Meanwhile, Ami was dancing with her father, who was looking at her with concern. "Are you feeling all right, Ami?"

            "I'm fine," she answered quietly. 

            Richard shrugged, not wanting to bother her. Especially on Christmas Day. So he asked, "Have you danced with Zach yet?"

            "No. And between you and me, I'm not planning to."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Aileen Coruni intercepted her son next. "Zach! I haven't seen you all night! Are you having fun?"

            "Oh, lots." She missed the sarcasm.

            "Kira and I were just talking–would you mind dancing with Ami? We think you'd make such a cute couple...we're having a mini-bet with the Cromwells, you see. Now don't tell your father about it; he wouldn't approve. We just want to see how cute you look together! I'm sure she would suit you much better than Melissa." Aileen lowered her voice to a whisper at the end, not wanting to speak ill of her guests too loudly.

            "I don't want to dance with her."

            "Zach!" Aileen looked after her son, astonished, as he disappeared into the crowd.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Hey, Ames, have you danced with Zach yet?"

            Ami was feeling a little more than annoyed, and she whirled around angrily. "Not you, too, Lita! What's so great about Zach anyway? He's nothing but a flirt."

            The brunette's eyes widened. "Calm down, Ami. You know we're friends, but I really don't like it when you talk about Zach that way. Especially now. I thought you got to know him better."

            Feeling slightly embarrassed, Ami said bitterly, "So did I." Then she sighed. "I'm sorry, Lita, we just had–a little misunderstanding, and it seems like _everyone_ is telling me to dance with him. Ours mothers even have a bet going on about us!"

            Lita raised her eyebrows, but before she could answer, Jaden popped up. _Finally_. He glared at his cousin, still sore that she had trapped him into dancing with Melissa. "Well, Demando's locked in the bathroom, Darien's nose isn't broken, Ken's looking for you, Lita, and I'm feeling much better! How about a dance, Ames?"

            "Oh–sure," she smiled weakly. Just because she was majorly pissed off at Zach didn't mean that the sentiment included his brother. "I'll talk to you later, Lita!"

            Jaden smiled down at the top of her head. She was a few inches shorter than Rei, but she and Zach would look so cute together... "Haven't seen you all night," he said breezily.

            Ami laughed. "Maybe you haven't seen me, but I've been watching you! How many times were you conned into dancing with Melissa?"

            He groaned. "Please don't remind me."

            "Um...Jade, you were joking about Demando being locked in a bathroom, right?"

            He didn't answer her, just smiled innocently and began searching for Rei in the crowd. He really, really hoped that she had sensed his intentions. It was the second-to-last dance, and if he didn't get to dance with Rei, well...he'd do something drastic. Very drastic.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   "Hey, Zach...did you find Ami?"

            "Yeah," he said morosely.

            Rei was about to ask him what she had been doing, but then she saw Jaden and Ami dancing. Now was her chance! "Well, that's great! Thanks, Zach."

            "No problem."

            "Hey...would you dance with me? Pretty please?" Inwardly, she made a face. She sounded like Mina...and Mina would be incredibly proud of the hare-brained scheme she and Jaden had cooked up together. Rei couldn't wait to tell her friend about it.

            Zach smiled half-heartedly. "All right. Let's go, Hino."

            She winced as he led her through the whirling couples. _Hino_?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Rei," Jaden said emotionlessly, even though his eyes were twinkling mischievously.

            She had to repress a joyful smile herself. In her sternest tone, she replied, "Jaden."

            Ami and Zach exchanged nervous looks before they remembered that they were both mad at each other. But they realized that their original plan that had somehow worked out, although neither of them had made any effort to carry it out. Wasn't making Rei and Jaden up worth the sacrifice? Simultaneously, they mentioned that they hadn't had the chance to dance with each other all night...

            Jaden hid a grin. Rei smiled to herself and stepped on his foot discreetly when she noticed him staring at her dress (or, more precisely, the parts of her that weren't covered by the dress).

            "Ouch," he moaned.

            "What was that?"

            "Nothing." He smiled painfully.

            'Serves you right' was Rei's feeling.

            Zach pretended to look torn. "Mm...Ami and I should really dance...I wanted to talk to you, Ames. But I don't want to abandon Rei."

            Stiffly, Jaden said, "I wouldn't mind dancing with Rei. Far be it for me to neglect a lady."

            Rei raised an ironic eyebrow. "Well, thanks _so much_, Jaden. Maybe we have a few things to talk about ourselves."

            They switched partners quickly, and as Zach put his arms slowly around Ami's waist and she slipped her arms around his neck, Rei and Jaden spun off, laughing. 

            Ami stared at them. "What in the world is going on with them?"

            Zach was equally perplexed until Rei and Jaden started smooching. "Damn! I get it now..."

            Ami's mouth opened slightly in horror. "They match-made us...they tricked us into thinking they were still fighting!"

            "We thought we were doing them a favor, but they were really plotting against us," Zach added gloomily. "So we really match-made ourselves!" They didn't notice that they were dancing quite close together, both fuming at being tricked. 

            Then Ami said grudgingly, "Thanks for saving me from Saffir."

            "So it _was_ saving you, then?"

            She looked up at him in confusion. "Of course! You thought I wanted him to practically attack me by pushing me against the wall and then slobbering all over me? It _hurt_, you know."

            He was suddenly engulfed in a wave of protective emotion. "I'm sorry, Ami. I thought that–you know–it was...consensual."

            Ami looked highly insulted. "Yes, well, just because all of _your_ kissing is consensual doesn't mean every other girl has to be a slut."

            "_Excuse me_?" he managed to get out.

            She looked away, pouting slightly. "I saw you and Belinda in the hall."

            "That? That was..."

*flashback*

            "Belinda...I think we should go back now."

            "Why?"

            "Um...there's not much to do around here."

            She smiled slyly. "Are you sure...?"

            Before he knew it, she had wrapped around him like a snake and was kissing him deeply.

*end flashback*

            "She practically had me in a headlock."

            Ami sighed, much more willing to lay her head on Zach's shoulder now. She was suddenly feeling quite tired, and his presence was warm and comforting again instead of cold and hurtful. He felt exactly the same way. "Why are we always getting ourselves into these kinds of situations?" she asked ruefully.

            He laughed. "I don't know, but let's not let it happen again."

            "I missed you, you know. I kept looking for you, and you kept dancing with all these pretty girls."

            "None of them were as beautiful as you are."

            To his surprise, she rolled her eyes. "Please. I've heard enough of that from Saffir." As he tensed, Ami giggled slightly and said, "That reminds me. If you thought that the kissing was consensual, why did you feel the need to punch him?"

            Zach flushed a bright red. "I was..."

            "Angry? Jealous?" she asked sweetly.

            He smirked. "If he was such a jerk, why did you stop me?"

            "Because you would have gotten in trouble," she said seriously. 

            He smiled and kissed her temple. "Thanks for watching out for me, then."

            "You're such a troublemaker," she teased.

            "While you're thinking of a suitable punishment for me, let's keep dancing."

            Ami nodded, her eyes glistening. "As long as we can."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            "Aw...they're so cute!" Aileen gushed.

            Kira, meanwhile, was holding her hand out to Melissa Cromwell's mother. "I believe we won our bet."

            Mrs. Cromwell's expression was pinched. "I don't believe it's settled that your daughter and Zachary are better matched than him and my Melissa."

            Aileen burst out laughing, attracting their attention. She pointed at the floor, where Zach was now kissing Ami. "It seems like he has a definite preference."

            Melissa's mother slapped the money most ungraciously into Kira's hand as Derek Coruni and Richard Anderson swooped over to collect their wives for the last dance...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Ami's cheeks were a little pink as Zach drew back. He grinned. "I don't have to lean down as much tonight–what a refreshing change."

            "I know. I hate being so short."

            "I think it's cute." After a few minutes of blissful silence, he looked back at her. "Ami?"

            "Mm?" She was smiling happily, watching Darien and Serena, Rei and Jaden, and Lita and Ken dancing near them. The last two were only friends, but they looked equally happy to be together. 

            "When I kissed you...in the hallway last night...was it your first kiss?"

            She looked back at him, her eyebrows raised. "Yes."

            "I thought so." Zach didn't sound smug, as she had expected; instead, his tone was pensive. "It wasn't mine."

            "It doesn't matter. I didn't think it would be," she replied softly, her voice level.

            "You mean more to me than any of the others."

            Ami smiled slightly. "You certainly mean more to me than Saffir does."

            He didn't reply to the jest. "Even though it wasn't my first kiss...you make me wish that it was, Ami."

            Her eyes sparkled with tears as he cut off her reply by kissing her again. 

            When the final stroke of the clock sounded, her head was resting on his shoulder again. She was listening to his heartbeat, so close to her ear, with her eyes closed. It was steady and strong...with the erratic beat here and there that made her smile. She didn't need to look into his eyes to see the emotion shining there. He was wearing his heart on his sleeve without fear, and it was all for her. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


	13. Shattered Dreams

_Part III, Chapter 9_

            Ami's face was turned towards the window, but her mind was not on the scenery flashing by. There was a dreamy smile on her face, and she was in another world entirely. Her parents were conversing softly in the front; Rei was napping beside her. 

            Their goodbyes had been...interesting, to say the least. She had been surprised to find out how attached she had become to Serena and Lita. The chipper blonde and the warm-hearted brunette had promised to visit them the next time Ami was home from school, which would be in the early spring. Ami made a mental note to ask Nevan over and solicit Mina's help in matchmaking the unknowing pair. 

            They would all be together, then... Mina and Kunthan would be spending spring break at Mina's house, but they could always drop by for a visit. And getting in touch with Darien wouldn't be a problem–he and Serena were practically joined at hip. In the spring Zach would have his license, and he and Jaden could drive over...

            Ami's smile grew brighter as she thought of Zach and their somewhat harried farewell.

*flashback*

            Zach shifted nervously, all too aware of the many eyes upon them. "So...uh...I'll call you sometime, all right?"

            She flushed. "Um, okay." After a few minutes, she screwed up her bravery and looked him straight in the eye. "What exactly are we, Zach?"

            "What?"

            "Just friends...a little more than friends..." Ami stopped mid-sentence, feeling mortified when he burst out laughing.

            "I thought we were going out! You didn't know?"

            "How could I know?! You never asked me!" she protested, turning redder than before.

            Zach ran a hand through his hair, which was sticking up every which way in that early morning hour. "What, you think I just kiss girls routinely and spend the whole night being jealous for no reason?"

            Ami's eyes flashed indignantly. "I refuse to dignify that with an answer."

            He rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. Be that way. Do I have to get down on my knees to make it clear?"

            She smiled again and, quick as a flash, stood up on her tiptoes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him. When he looked up again, slightly dazed, she was laughing at him from the doorway, calling a cheerful goodbye before she all but skipped out the door. 

*end flashback*

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Ami looked up as a enthusiastic blur of pink rushed into her room and plopped on her lap. She dropped her pen, laughing as she hugged her youngest cousin. "Ne, Keika? Where's your sister?"

            The three year old bounced up and down, her pigtails flying everywhere as she replied, "Downstairs with Rei....they're singing karaoke!"

            Just then, the microphone in the living room gave a hideous screech, and Ami winced. "I see. So, what would you like?"

            "A story!" Keika chirped, just as Ami had known she would. 

            "All right...which one?"

            "The one about the bunny...in the moon..."

            Ami smiled to herself and lifted her cousin onto the bed. "Good choice. So, once upon a time..."

            The unfinished letter on her desk had been written and rewritten several times over as Ami searched for the words to express her feelings. Her pen was lay uncapped and abandoned on the closing. Her script was neat and elegant.

            _Dear Zach,_ it began. That had been the easy part.

            _I'm so glad that I met you, because you make me feel a way no one else has ever made me feel. When I'm with you, I feel like I can say anything I want to you, and you'll understand. You bring out a part of me that I like, and I feel more real and alive around you. I'm free. I don't care how other people feel. You make me feel safe...although your violent and jealous tendencies are somewhat shocking–just kidding! ... _

_            ...I'll be going away to school in a few days. Don't forget to write to me, and call me when you have time. I'll see you over spring break, all right? Don't forget about me._

            When she had time to be alone again, Ami read over the note and signed it, sealing and addressing the envelope quickly in case she chickened out. She would send it tomorrow...and then the day after that, she would be gone. 

            _Love, Ami._

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Three days later, Zach was waiting impatiently in the local Barnes and Noble. He was checking his watch every three seconds, and time had never seemed to tick by so slowly... Christie had always been late while they were dating. He was wondering for what seemed like the fiftieth time that day why he'd agreed to her proposition. 

            He came to the conclusion that it had been Christmas Day, and he'd been in a charitable mood. There was also the factor that before he had asked her out, he had genuinely liked her. She'd been one of his better girlfriends...and she hadn't made a tremendous fuss when they'd broken up. A part of the fondness he'd felt towards her still remained, although it was a completely friendly sentiment now.

            Over the past few days, he'd only talked with Ami on the phone once–her cousins from Japan were visiting and monopolizing her time, but she seemed happy to hear from him. Zach sighed, forgetting about his annoyance with Christie. He'd never felt this anxious and unsure of himself with any of his other girlfriends, and something told him that he'd better tread carefully with Ami. He'd had this nagging feeling that he should have told her about his charade with Christie, but their conversation had been cut short when a crisis involving a potted plant and the fish tank had occurred...

            "Zach! Hi!"

            He glanced up sharply, jerked out of his thoughts. "Oh, hey Christie. About time!"

            Her brown eyes narrowed when he just sat there, and under her breath, she hissed, "Stand up and kiss me! He's right over there, by the magazines..."

            Knowing that she meant her ex-boyfriend Devon, Zach sighed, rose, and kissed her cheek dutifully with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. When she sat down across from him, he took her hand. "So how are things going?"

            Christie could tell his mind was elsewhere, but she continued the conversation cheerfully, babbling away about this and that. All the time, her predatory glance was focused obsessively on him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            The mall was packed as thrifty housewives rummaged through the after-Christmas sales. Ami, Rei, and Jaden strolled around laughing and joking together–or at least the latter two were. Ami couldn't help but feel like the third wheel, and the lack of Zach's presence was making her gloomy. Their cousins, aunt, and uncle were with Kira and Richard, and Ami and Rei had been given some free time to themselves, at long last.

            Casting a worried look at Ami, who seemed listless and preoccupied, Rei asked, "So where's Zach, Jade?"

            He frowned. "I don't know. I asked him if he wanted to come with me today...but he said he already had something to do. But he didn't know you were coming, Ames; I bet he didn't want to feel like he was intruding. He would've come if he'd known you were coming," Jaden proclaimed more confidently than he felt. 

            Zach was a magnificent liar, but he hadn't ever lied to Jaden...just omitted parts of the truth. If he'd said he had something to, he did...but the fact that he didn't tell Jaden what that something was alerted his brother that something strange was going on.

            After a few minutes, Ami was tired of, as Jaden had put it himself, intruding. "Rei, Jade, do you mind if I catch up with you guys later? I want to stop in the bookstore," she explained, pointing to the Barnes and Noble. 

            They stopped, hand in hand. Ami glanced at their joined hands and repressed a sigh of envy. She and Zach had never gone on an actual date, and she was leaving for school tomorrow. She had really wanted to see him before she left...but things hadn't worked out.

             Rei offered, "We'll go with you, Ames."

            She laughed. "You don't want to look at the 'boring old books' with me. Besides, didn't you want to look in that new store, Rei? You can go with Jade. Trust me, I'll be fine–no one's going to abduct me."

            "Are you sure?" Jaden asked.

            "Positive. So what time and where should I meet you?"

            Rei checked her watch, knowing that even though she and Jaden were fine with the situation, Ami was feeling uncomfortable. "How about...three o'clock in front of Macy's?"

            "All right. See you then!" Ami pulled open the mall door and darted out into the whirling snowflakes, wishing that the Barnes and Noble had a mall entrance. Luckily, the door was only a few feet away, and she was greeted with a blast of profuse heat as she entered the bookstore. Removing her coat, she began to browse in the sci-fi/fantasy section.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Christie accused, "You aren't listening to me, Zach."

            "What? Of course I am."

            "Then what did I just say?"

            "..."

            The blonde pouted. "See. I knew it."

            Zach shifted in his chair. "I'm sorry, Christie. It's just–I have a lot on my mind." He looked over at the racks of magazines, where Christie had said Devon was hovering. "Hey, it looks like Devon's gone. Do you want to do your shopping now?" 

            She had been awfully interested in his life at present...they hadn't talked for a while, but instead of acting paranoid about Devon, as he'd expected, she seemed perfectly content to chat with him. In fact, it was unnerving how her complete attention seemed to be focused on him. She'd been extremely unhappy to hear that he had a girlfriend, but she hid it well... Zach had noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

            Christie got to her feet, sweeping her curtain of hair behind her. "Sure. You're coming with me, right?" 

            "Nah...I'll stay here a little longer and finish my coffee. I think Jaden said he was coming here with Rei today–maybe I'll meet up with them." It was only a half-lie. He didn't really feel like finding Jaden and Rei, who would ask uncomfortable questions that he didn't want to answer. Jaden didn't like Christie, and Zach had never been able to fathom why. That was the reason he hadn't told Jaden he was meeting her today.

            She sat again, mascara-laden eyelashes fluttering. "Oh–why don't I keep you company then?"

            He looked at her strangely. "Don't you have something to do? I thought you wanted to shop without Devon bothering you."

            Christie couldn't repress a huff. She'd forgotten how dense Zach could be when he was trying to play the almighty savior. "Zach. Devon was never here, okay?"

            "What? Then why–"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

             Ami's fingers reached into her pocket, searching for the slip of paper she'd written the title of a book she wanted to read. Instead of retrieving that slip of paper, she pulled out her note to Zach. She would have mailed it, but when Rei had told her that Jaden would be meeting them, she thought it would be more efficient to ask Jaden to give it to Zach. For one thing, it would save her the postage. She'd almost forgotten she had it with her...she would have to remember to give it to Jaden when they met again at three. 

            Ami checked her watch, noting that it was two forty-five. She was making her way over to the Starbucks to get a cup of hot chocolate when she noticed a couple at the table directly in front of the cash register kissing passionately... The envelope with Zach's name on it fluttered to the ground from her suddenly-nerveless fingers, and a choked feeling came into her throat as her shocked eyes took in the scene before her: Zach, her Zach, who had dominated her thoughts almost completely for the past three days...was kissing a blonde stranger. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            In a state of utter shock, Zach regained his senses two seconds later and jerked away violently. "What the hell is wrong with you? I told you I had a girlfriend, and you–you lied to me about Devon!"

            "Come on, Zach. What Ami doesn't know won't hurt her. Besides, she's away for most of the year–don't tell me you're going to try a long-distance relationship. They never work out." Christie spoke with the conviction of past experience; she didn't notice how angry he was, she was busy feeling annoyed that he had pulled away.

            He was so furious that he could barely keep from hitting her. "So you wouldn't have minded if I had cheated on you while we were dating, is that it?"

            "That's not true!" she protested.

            "But you can do it to other people as long as it doesn't happen to you, right?" Zach shook his head, running a hand through his hair agitatedly out of habit. "If the world is run by people like you, no wonder it's such a screwed up place."

            Christie's cheeks were pale under the rouge, and she was breathing heavily too. "How dare you say something like that to me?!"

            He gave her a cold look and stood to go, pushing back his chair with a hideous, metallic screech. Christie's hand wrapped itself around his arm with a surprisingly iron grip, and he stopped four steps away from their table, also hearing a crunch of paper underneath his foot. Shaking her off, he bent to pick up the envelope, which now bore a stark brown footprint against the pure white paper. It read _Zach_ in flawless script...

            She grabbed the envelope out of his hand and ripped open the envelope carelessly. The note was nearly ripped in half, and her eyes scanned its contents quickly before she started laughing. "'You make me feel a way no one else has ever made me feel?' What kind of garbage is this?"

            His eyes were smoldering as he wrestled the letter away from her. 'Ami.' An intense wave of paranoia, accompanied by a painful twinge in his chest, swept over him. Had she seen him? It was too much to hope that she hadn't...what were the odds that they would both be in the bookstore that afternoon and that she had "accidentally" dropped the envelope barely three feet away from the table?

            "Shut up," he ordered roughly. 

            "What makes her so special?" Christie demanded jealously.

            "She's worth ten of you," he replied–and then he was gone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Gasping both from the cold and the pain in her chest, Ami missed the treacherous piece of black ice and went sprawling on the ground. She lay on there for a few minutes, feeling the cold press against her face, into her skin, wishing she could just lie there forever and die.

            Eventually her sense of survival got the better of her. She levered herself to her feet, moving stiffly and brushing herself off. Her first concern was to make sure that no one had seen her–there was no one else outside in the heavily-falling snow... Through the windows of the Barnes and Noble, she caught a glimpse of Christie reading something–her note–and laughed scornfully.

            'Why? Why did I have to drop it?' Never in her life had she wanted to turn back time more than this moment. But she knew she wasn't going to wait for Zach to see her and make whatever excuses he tried to. Pushing open the mall door, she walked as fast as she could far, far away without a destination in her mind. 

            In her stunned state, Ami barely managed to avoid bumping into people left and right. When a shopping bag banged against her wrist, she felt a surprising sting of pain. There was a reddened scrape on her wrist from when she'd fallen. It was the first sensation, besides the incredible cold, that she had felt since she left the bookstore. There seemed to be a vast emptiness in her that refused to be filled, and she didn't even feel like crying about Zach.

            All the benches were occupied, but she felt drained of all her energy. She ducked into the comforting shadow of a potted plant and stayed there, pressed against the smooth black stone. She felt as if she were slowly becoming one with it, melting and melding together... Then she tasted the tangy iron flavor of blood on her lip. Touching it carefully, she discovered that it was bleeding. She realized that she must have bitten down when she'd fallen.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Rei and Jaden made their way towards the agreed-upon spot at exactly three o'clock, arguing all the while about a chick flick Rei wanted to see next weekend. Once they had compromised, Rei glanced around to see where Ami was, but she was nowhere to be seen. Rei checked her watch and frowned. That's strange. Ami's always early...but she's almost five minutes late."

            Unconcerned, Jaden said, "Don't worry. Maybe she got lost in some book. If she's not here in another five minutes, we'll check the bookstore."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            She closed her eyes, sinking deeper and deeper within herself. The dark fronds of the plant brushed her face with their whispery touch. She was aware of herself as a tiny mortal dot among the throng of harried shoppers, rushing their lives away... 'Who was that girl?'

            A harsh, bitter voice spoke up inside of her. 'I understand if you didn't quite catch her name. Zach was a little too busy to introduce you at the moment, wasn't he?'

            She bit her lip, ignoring the fresh pain as the painful pressure in her chest increased. 

            'What if he was...feeling bored today, and she just happened to be in the right place at the right time? But he didn't just run into her,' she recalled. 'Jaden said...Jaden said that Zach told him he had other things to do today. So it wasn't an accident. He planned to meet her.'

            She covered her face with her hands. 'What happened to me? A week ago, I hated him, and then I suddenly...fell in love with him? Do I really love him? Can I call all this doubt, this anger, this insecurity love? What if I don't even know the real him?'

            Her mind went back to the derisive talk of some guys at the Corunis's house.

            _"He actually asked the little nerd to the dance!"_

            _"What **I** want to know is, was he serious or was it just another one of his games?"_

            _"He's too damn confident in himself–who cares if he likes her? He just wants the challenge. Once he's figured out how to get her, he'll dump her. But you know, girls like her don't go for guys like him."_

            Ami closed her eyes tightly as sorrow welled up inside her. 'Maybe it's the other way around–guys like Zach just don't go for girls like me.'

            Rei had said: _"Zach hasn't dated many dark-haired girls. I've seen him with a few brunettes, and most of his girlfriends have been blonde...he doesn't go for quiet girls."_

            'I was an idiot to write that note.'

            Without her consciously willing it to, another memory surfaced. Saffir faced her in the hall, a curious spark of competitive excitement in his eyes. _"I knew I wanted you from the moment I saw you, Ami. And then, when I heard that my dear cousin Zachary was after you as well, I knew I had to have you."_

            'Did Zach plan everything out beforehand? How could Saffir have known? Did he and Zach have some sort of bet on me? Who can get the nerdy little bookworm first?'

            Ami shook herself. She knew it was no good getting into a self-deprecating mood. But those words had spread like poison through her brain, and she couldn't forget them. In the short span of a half an hour, she had lost her burgeoning confidence and sense of self. She doubted her own judgement and faith in other people, and the world no longer held joy in her eyes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

AN: My sincere apologies for those of you who read the previous version of this chapter…I took it down about an hour or two after I posted it for revision, but it seems like a lot of people read it—sorry!! ;; Thanks so much for the reviews, though ^^ 

            I've been incredibly stressed out because of a number of things, and that plus lack of sleep has made me sick for about two weeks (not a very good thing with the amount of work I have to do). At any rate, thanks for reading and reviewing ^^ it makes me a lot more cheerful; I just wish I could review more often. 

            Standardized tests are coming up in October, so I should be a little freer after that (and hopefully a lot healthier). One more chapter in Part III, and then we shall enter a most interesting time period…

            ~Ice 

P.S. Most recently—thanks Slice (keep smiling!) and tomboy pineapple (like the name ^^) and to :D…I don't mind about the quote, it's great that you like it ^.~


	14. Paradise Lost

_Part III, Chapter 10_

            It took all of Ami's strength to lie about her whereabouts to Rei, who had worked herself into a panic by the time she had showed up, and pretend that everything was all right during a boisterous family dinner, which was very much in her honor, as she would be leaving early the next morning. 

            By the end of the evening, her head was aching, and she was comforted by the dark silence during the car ride. Keika was asleep on her lap, and at one point, Ami placed her hand against the soft, plump cheek. Keika's warmth transferred itself to Ami's cold fingers, and her eyes filled abruptly. 

            Almost all her life, she had felt set apart from other people. They laughed companionably as she watched from the shadows, smiling faintly and gratefully when included in the discourse. Often, she looked around at people in school, on the streets, anywhere...and wondered how they could seem so different and why she felt so alone amongst a vast populace. 

            To fill that fearful, lonely space inside of her had come people of light and warmth. Rei had entered her life early on–her fiery temperament and active lifestyle had stimulated Ami to stand up for herself. When their circumstances had changed, Mina brought light instead of fire. She was constantly laughing, and people were always drawn to her. Ami had met others who meant as much to her as these two... Jaden. Nevan. Serena. Lita. Darien. 

            None of them had had the same effect as Zachary, but he, too, had been a source from which she could draw warmth and confidence. His very smile had held compelling warmth, and he had infused her with life for a precious week before her dreams had come crashing down. She decided that the vibrancy of his personality was not false–of that much she was certain. 

            But she admitted to herself that no matter how much she liked parts of him, it could not counter other unsavory parts of his personality. He had changed since their last meeting two years ago, but not enough. She steeled herself for their inevitable confrontation.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*   Zach slammed the phone down in its receiver with an agitated bang and removed his feet from the chair where he'd propped them up earlier. For what seemed like the past hour, he had been dialing Ami's number every five minutes and receiving no response but the answering machine. Rei's cell phone was not on, and he had already left a very impatient, incoherent message on her voicemail:

            "Rei, it's Zach. Can you ask Ami to call me as soon as possible? It's urgent. Thanks."

            He hadn't left a message on the answering machine, and it was getting late–around nine o'clock. He wouldn't have expected the Mizuno-Andersons to stay out late when Ami was leaving so early the next morning... 

            Zach sighed when he saw Ami's letter, badly ripped and maltreated, lying on his desk. No one had ever written anything of the kind to him, and he had been completely blown away by her words. 'Please don't let her have seen me and Christie. _Please_.' Just then, the phone rang, and he fumbled for the receiver a little clumsily. "Hello?!"

            "...Hi, Zach. It's Ami."

            She hadn't needed to say who she was; he had known from the moment he had heard her voice. "Hey." 

            He was surprised to hear how normal he sounded. But now he was in a dilemma–should he mention the incident in the bookstore? Had she really seen them, or was it just a coincidence that she had dropped the letter? 

            "So...you're leaving tomorrow," he said awkwardly.

            "Yeah."

            "I'll miss you." Her response was not forthcoming. In fact, she didn't say anything at all, and Zach's palms were beginning to get sweaty. "Listen, can I write to you? You still haven't given me your address."

            Her voice was surprisingly firm as she said, "I don't think that's a good idea."

            "Why not?"

            "Look, Zach...about this thing...about _us_... I don't think it's working out. We should stop seeing each other. I mean, I'll be away for so much of the year, and it's not fair to you–to either of us."

            In an instant, he knew that she knew. "You were there today, weren't you? In the bookstore?" 

            She debated, for a few minutes, whether she should lie to him or not. "Yes, I was."

            "Ami–I can explain–" he said frantically.

            "I don't want to hear it," was her frosty response.

            "You don't understand! I didn't kiss her, all right?"

            Ami smiled ironically as she leaned against her closed door. "Your lips just happened to collide, is that it? I understand. It happens all the time. Maybe when you kissed me, it was an 'accident' too–or are you going to claim that I was the one who kissed you?"

            Frustrated, Zach snapped, "Look, it wasn't my fault, all right? Christie is–was–my friend. We went out for a while some time ago, and then we broke up. She called me and said her ex-boyfriend was giving her a lot of trouble, stalking her everywhere and refusing to leave her alone, so I agreed to pretend that we were going out again. I made sure that it was just a sham, all right? 

            So I met her in the bookstore, and Christie said Devon–her boyfriend–was watching us just a few feet away, so we had to act like a devoted couple. When I realized that he had never been there, she just grabbed me and kissed me. It only lasted two seconds, I swear!"

            Softly, she countered, "It was longer than two seconds. I was _there_, Zach. I saw you two, and you didn't seem to have any problems with it."

            "Well, you obviously weren't there long enough! I pulled away _right away_."

            "So this is my fault, is that what you're saying?"

            He almost growled in his irritation. Things were not turning out as he had planned. "No! Come on, listen to me, Ames."

            "You were kissing her back. For sure." Ami's tone was flat, and she was no longer smiling humorlessly.

            Zach sighed. "Fine. Okay, yes I did, for a second. I lost control, and I was in shock, all right? But I really didn't mean to. I did pull away, and I–"

            "I'm tired of your 'not meaning to,' Zach. Every time I turn around, I don't want to hear your excuses. How can I be sure that Belinda wasn't just another 'accident?' I'm not wasting my time in a relationship where I'm constantly being hurt."

            "Belinda was not my fault. Christie was not my fault. Will you stop blaming me? I couldn't help it in either of those incidents."

            "So girls just kiss you constantly, and I'll just resign myself to that fact, won't I? You have some nerve, Zach. I can't believe what you're telling me!"

            He insisted on maintaining that he was in the right. "Well, you should! Are you going to break up with me just for such a stupid reason?"

            Coldly, she responded, "I feel perfectly justified. I don't think my feelings are stupid, and while I understand that they mean nothing to you–"

            "Would you stop twisting my words? I care a lot about your feelings–"

            "Which is why you let Christie read my note," she said dryly. "I understand. I'm sure it was very amusing for the both of you."

            His face was turning red in anger and embarrassment, and his helpless frustration was fading as their argument escalated. "I stood up to go, and I stepped on it and picked it up. Christie just grabbed it out of my hand and read it. There was nothing I could do about it. That wasn't my fault!"

            "Nothing ever is, is it?"

            "No–Ami, I was furious with her. Your note...I was...no one has ever written anything so meaningful to me. I'm really sorry she had to see it." Zach sighed, trying to find the words to express his sentiments, but it was awkward for him to be saying "I feel touched."

            Her voice was slightly gentler but still very firm as she replied, "Well, so am I. I just can't trust you, Zach, and our relationship can't get very far without it. Fidelity and trust are important to me."

            "They're important to me, too," he protested.

            "You're not going to change my mind. I don't want to be a relationship now, not after all that's happened. It's not the right time for me."

            His temper flared anew. "And I always thought you were less stubborn than Rei. Don't give up on us just because you're afraid, Ami."

            "_Afraid_? Is that what you think I am?" She had never felt angrier in her life. "Well, if you want someone _less stubborn_, I'm sure Christie, or Belinda, or any of your other 'friends' would fit that description."

            Zach ignored her. "We can make it work. This 'not the right time' thing is bullshit. It's some stupid excuse you've trumped up because you're not willing to try."

            "_I'm_ not willing to try? You're the one who's kissing girls–being kissed, as you keep saying–left and right. It's over, Zach. Just accept it and move on, as I'm sure you'll do the very next thing tomorrow morning."

            "You've always had a low opinion of me and just never gotten over it."

            "Maybe because everything I heard turned out to be true! You're a chauvinistic, self-centered flirt who will never mature. You keep saying you've changed–but it takes more than two years to change someone like you. I doubt that a lifetime could do it."

            "And you're being an unforgiving, closed-minded prude!"

            Ami's reply was very icy as she replied, "Then I don't see why you're protesting about the breakup. You obviously want nothing to do with me, and I'd be happy to never see your face again." With that, she hung up the phone–the only way she was certain she could get the last word. 

            Zach stared at the receiver in disbelief as monotonous beeping issued from the earpiece. A minute later, he slammed it down again and stalked into the music room to play Bach's _Three Part Inventions_ very loudly and very badly.

            Once her anger had faded, Ami dropped the phone onto the carpet. It landed with a soft thump, and she covered her face with her hands to stifle her sobs. Rei had been reading Keika and her sister Satsuki a bedtime story, and the adults were downstairs. No one had heard their argument. The tears streamed down her face as she threw herself on her bed. 'How could you say something like that to me, Zach?'

            Ten minutes later, Rei knocked on the door. When there was no reply, she opened the door, and her eyes were wide when she saw Ami lying face-down on the bed. "Is something wrong? I thought I heard you shouting before...were you on the phone with someone?"

            When Ami lifted her face, Rei saw her red eyes and nose and immediately sat down on the bed and hugged her. "What's wrong? What happened?"

            The more sympathy one gets in such times, the worse one feels. Ami broke down again against her will, and the whole story–along with many more tears–flooded out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Jaden stuck his head in the door, a quizzical look on his face. "Look, Zach, I understand the separation anxiety you must be feeling, but would you please keep it down? Some of us are getting headaches, and would you please spare the poor piano? It can't take this abuse, and you sound like crap."

            "I have no idea what you're talking about," Zach said coolly without stopping his playing.

            "You know, Ami leaving tomorrow." Despite the deafening noise, he walked completely into the room and sprawled lazily on the couch. 

            Zach's hands stilled, but his back was still turned to his brother when he said quietly, "I won't be missing her, and she won't be missing me. We just broke up."

            Jaden sat up quickly. "_What_? What did you _do_?"

            Irritably, he snapped, "Whenever something goes wrong, why does everyone assume it's my fault?"

            Nothing would satisfy Jaden until he heard the story in full, and once Zach was finished, he was starting to feel incredibly embarrassed of himself. Jaden gave him hell as well as Rei could have done it until he saw how distraught Zach was. 

            "...what I never understood was why you never saw through Christie. She was just as bad as some of your other girlfriends...just a little bit smarter. Well, a lot smarter."

            "I never knew why you hated her until today."

            "She was really angry when you broke up with her. Like majorly pissed off..she just never showed it around you."

            Zach sighed. "Well, it's a little late to be telling me this, isn't it?"

            Jaden shrugged. "Look, I'm sorry, but I always thought you would figure it out for yourself one day. I didn't think something like this would happen. So what are you going to do now?"

            "What can I do? You want me to beg for forgiveness _again_? You heard the things she said about me. She thinks I'm scum."

            "Well, you acted like scum! You provoked her into saying the things she did, and she also made you say some pretty nasty things back. You might have had a better chance if that hadn't happened, Zach... I mean, it sounds like she didn't want to talk about the incident and just have a quiet breakup where both of you agree to go your separate ways...not that it ever happens like that."

            "So what am I going to do?"

            Jaden's unhelpful reply was "Fix your own messes for once." When Zach gave him a very evil glare, he amended, "Fine, I'll see if I can talk to Rei about it..."

            "Please no," he said immediately, dreading her reaction.

            His brother smiled pityingly. "You really think Ami won't have told her about it by now? You know girls...they talk about _everything_. I'll see if Rei can come up with something...but I'd recommend that you stay away from her for the next semester or so."

            "Why did you have to date a girl who has a black belt in karate?"

            "Why did you have to go and piss off her cousin?"

            Zach rolled his eyes. "That was a hypothetical question."

            "Your dating is now a hypothetical situation."

            There was a pause before Zach said without much fire in him, "Don't be an asshole. I'm already depressed enough as it is."

            Jaden gave him a very brief pat on the shoulder before he left with the melancholy strains of _Mariage D'amour_ in his ears.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Two months later, Rei had gotten over most of her anger and was even feeling sympathetic towards Zachary's plight. She called Ami one night, and after they chatted about school, family, and other parts of daily life...

            "So, about Zach–"

            "I don't want to talk about this, Rei," she said determinedly.

            "I know, I know. But you may have to. Are you just planning to avoid him for the rest of your life? It's not going to work."

            Ami sighed. Good intentions were annoying. "Yes, I am, and yes, it _is_ going to work. Anything is possible if you put your mind to it."

            Rei rolled her eyes. "What a worthy cause to be putting all those brain cells towards... But Ami...suppose that in the far future, if I happen to marrying Jade–"

            "_What_?!"

            "It's a purely hypothetical situation!" Her cheeks were a little red, but she continued on doggedly. "So in this purely hypothetical wedding, Zach would be the best man, and you would be my maid of honor. How is this going to work if you're not going to see him? Wear sunglasses? An impermeable veil so you can't see where you're going and have him guide you like a seeing eye-dog?"

            Ami was not seeing the humor that Rei was. "Who would you rather have at your wedding," she asked sweetly, "me or him?"

            "I'm not choosing between the two of you!"

            "Then maybe you won't have to."

            "What?!"

            Ami glanced towards the open window on her computer, which was displaying a sophisticated website. "I'm not talking about your wedding, which is less hypothetical than you say, and we both know it. Things are going to be awkward during spring break, particularly if everyone is going to be hanging out together and Zach and I aren't ever going to be in the same place at the same time. 

            I've been considering participating in a foreign study program for a while. I would live with a family...finish high school...I may even choose to pursue a career there."

            Rei had a very bad feeling about this. "Where are you going?" she demanded.

            "The program is very prestigious, and I'm sure that after taking a few tests, I could get into a very good high school... I'm particularly interested in the classes they're offering... Mom and Dad will agree, even if they won't like it..."

            "Would you spit it out already?!"

            "Japan. I want to go to Japan."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

AN: I'm not sure how many of you know _Mariage D'amour_, but it's by Paul de Senneville and Olivier Toussaint (French). It's an awesome song, but really sad for something that's supposed to be about a marriage of love...@.@ I also recommend _Souvenir D'enfance _(Memory of Childhood, or something along those lines). 

            I figured a speedy chapter was due in compensation for all the confusion...tried to do the breakup scene as well as I could, hope it wasn't too bad. Part 3 is complete, Ami will be going to Japan, and Part 4 takes place there–along with a fairly bearable Taiki (not as OOC as Saffir was). I am now off to do my fourth English essay for the week... x.X Thank you for reading and reviewing!

            ~Ice

P.S. Slice: it's not as bad as it sounds, really!! I mean, things are not so happy now, but next part Zach redeems himself, and there shouldn't be many more misunderstandings along the way…and Rei and Jade can officially have no more fights ^^;;

Thanks, Wyse! ^^

KAZE!! I am so sorry ;; that I never replied to your e-mail…it was sitting in my hotmail inbox, and I always meant to reply, but then I didn't check hotmail for awhile..I didn't realize Chapter 7 was sitting in there!! I'm very sorry. I will edit it ASAP!!!!


	15. Mirrors, Manners, and Mindset

_Part IV, Chapter 1_

            Ami looked down the long, flower-strewn aisle, at the gaily-bedecked altar, and at the lurid pink bouquet grasped tightly between her hands and wondered how it had gone this far. A heavy chandelier hung over head, and she glanced up at its long, gold-plated branches dripping with crystal pendants. She saw the glittering, rainbow light refractions shooting here and there in dizzying brilliance and pressed her hand to her forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

            A searing pain glazed across her temples, and when she yanked her hand away hurriedly, she saw bright drops of ruby-red blood upon the palm of her hand. The creamy white skin had been laid open in a nasty gash, and Ami glanced around helplessly as thick, fat drops splashed onto the ground. All of a sudden, a warm, comforting presence appeared at her side, and a tall figure crowned in dazzling light took her hand. 

            The pain subsided, but when Ami tried to thank the man who had come to her aid, he disappeared without her ever having gotten a clear glance at him. She was left with a fleeting memory of mint-green eyes. 

            "Ami, your dress!" Rei called in distress, attracting her attention. She was dressed in a strapless red gown and holding up a giant, rectangular mirror. 

            Ami saw that her dress, a silly, fluffed-up affair of peacock-blue satin, had been stained by her blood even though the cut had closed up. She frowned as she gazed at herself in the looking-glass that had suddenly appeared before her. 

            Clusters of icy diamonds winked at her throat, wrists, and ears. Every time she took a step in her ridiculous high heels, she stepped on her hem and nearly toppled head over heels. Of course, this could also be attributed to what felt and looked like the entire contents of a jewelry store draped about her person.

            Somewhat dizzily, she glanced around–all the pews were filled. Instead of the wedding march, the latest Three Lights' pop hit was playing, and she ambled along to the beat along the deep red carpet. Taking the place of the traditional rose petals were big, fat pink tulips that squished under her now bare feet unpleasantly. 

            Suddenly, her cousin spoke again, having walked by Ami's side instead of behind upon the tulips, drawing her out of her reverie. Rei asked softly, her amethyst eyes boring into the depths of Ami's blue ones, "Are you happy, Ami?"

            She looked back at her reflection, which wavered and changed. Her husband-to-be, now her husband, kissed her in the bedroom...she rocked a child in her arms...she laughed happily, throwing her arms around her parents and Rei, all of whom were beaming with unclouded joy. 

            The mirror rippled once more, and Ami held her breath in anticipation of what further images of bliss would be shown to her. Then she saw herself alone, the sadness that had not fled was lurking in her eyes and behind her smile.

            There was no answer to Rei's question, and the mirror shattered into millions of sharp, coldly-glittering fragments among the squashy pink tulips.

            Ami surfaced from the dream with a gasp, sucking in as much air as possible. The perfectly-heated room felt stifling to her; she pushed aside the down sheets with none of her usual care and ran to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face. Her pulse pounded rapidly, sounding loud and urgent in her head, and she was shaking. 

            When she felt more or less under control and as the remnants of the dream faded from her memory, she glanced up shakily at the gilded mirror above the sink, somewhat afraid that the same thing would happen, that the mirror would smash at her feet again. Ami shoved to the back of her mind the shattering of future happiness, the image of herself left alone with bitter sorrow.

            She strode to the balcony determinedly, throwing open the French doors and taking deep breaths of the cool night air. She was chilled quickly, soaked in sweat from the nightmare, but she stayed outdoors for a while longer. Ami listened intently, but there was no sound issuing forth from within the house or the surrounding neighborhood: no voices, no odd night noises, not even the ever-present bustle of traffic... 

            With a quiet sigh, she leaned her elbows on the railing and looked out at the vast domain of the Kou mansion. How silly she was to think she could have heard any sound that would have disturbed their sleep. The perfectly-manicured lawns and profusion of carefully-cultivated flowers were nearly invisible in the dark of night; she could barely make out the spiral pattern of the dusky labyrinth of hedges far off in the distance. 

            For about two weeks now, Ami had been living in the home of her fiancee, Taiki Kou – or rather, the home of his parents which had belonged in the Kou family for a multitude of generations. Their courtship had been an extremely proper one; Ami and Taiki had been introduced at one of the season's numerous social galas by mutual friends, and after they had met on a few more occasions, begun seeing each other. When it had escalated into serious dating, Ami had no idea, but after three years, it had suddenly become known to her that among their friends and acquaintances, they were considered as good as engaged.

            Ami had had mixed feelings upon that extraordinary pronouncement: some panic, great surprise, sudden fear, curious hope, and a sense of being cornered against her will. She felt that perhaps all along, there had been a sense of fate in their perfect relationship. He was intellectual, fairly considerate, and shared a number of interests with her. They got along well, although both were rather introverted, and Ami had plenty of reasons for why she should marry him. Their married life was predicted to be harmonious and peaceful, a happier union than many unfortunate couples of their class could expect.

            The Kous – at least the older generation – were traditionalists. They had lived in the ancestral mansion since it had been built and not stirred to a different permanent residence since; they had winter ski lodges and summer homes in different countries, but they would never leave this fruit of ancient labors. Ami and Taiki's engagement had taken place in private, as was considered appropriate, and since she was no longer surprised, she had been able to accept with perfect grace and calm. They had then waited the precise number of months that had been expected after their engagement to set the wedding date, which was fast approaching. It was approaching much faster than Ami had ever dreamed it could, but she felt that she did not make a very expectant bride.

            She was still somewhat hesitant about her welcome into the family. Mrs. Kou had accepted her graciously, but that was how she accepted everything: with cool aplomb, a careful smile, and glittering diamonds, a quality she had passed on to her eldest son. Mr. Kou, a kindly-looking gentleman, had greeted the news that he would be acquiring a daughter-by-marriage with no little excitement. It was mostly due to his prodding that their wedding was to be such a lavish celebration.

            As for Taiki's younger brothers, Seiya and Yaten, Ami understood where she stood with them perfectly. Seiya was the favored child and had always been, but he was also the most rebellious. According to Taiki, his behavior had always been perfect, even during their childhood years. Their parents had long-expected Taiki to take over as head of the family, and although they indulged Seiya in his whims, they had made it clear that sooner or later, he would be taking over the major portion of the business.

            Seiya, more reckless than his brother and equally intelligent, was surprisingly gentle with Ami. He had sensed that she was shy, and when reserved Taiki did not introduce her to people and places she was unfamiliar with, Seiya did it for him. She already felt like his older sister: he described his secret exploits to her, things he would never tells his parents or brothers, and she alternately scolded and laughed with him.

            Yaten was the youngest son and, in Ami's opinion, slightly erratic. He was as handsome as Seiya and mercurial in his emotions, decidedly spoiled, and excessively kindhearted. Although they had never really had a serious conversation, Yaten and Ami got along fine after Taiki had impressed upon him that under no circumstances was he to be rude to his girlfriend and later fiancee. Ami had yet to figure out where Yaten fit in the well-planned future his parents appeared to have created.

            When she had posed the question to Taiki about his own place in the hierarchy, he had replied, with a sardonic smile, "The bookkeeper, of course. I'll stay at home with my accounts in the dusty old study, and when they come across a problem even the brilliant Seiya can't solve, they'll remember there was a third brother after all."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

            Zachary Coruni stifled an impressive yawn as he checked his watch. He removed it from his wrist and shook it cautiously, then harder, determined to prove that it had finally broken. It wasn't possible for time to tick by this slowly. At last, he heaved a great sigh as the minute hand inched over another step grudgingly after its thorough shaking. 

            From a seat across the aisle, his brother cast a cautious look at him but said nothing. Zach's most recent girlfriend, an aspiring starlet, had been almost as good at concealing the fact that she was a shallow gold digger as she was at acting. She was actually a fairly good actress – Jaden supposed, acidly, that was why she had been able to fool him, Zach, and the rest of the family for so long. It was those skills, her face, and her body that had landed her a role in an upcoming movie and a place as the consort of a filthily-rich director. 

            Personally, Jaden had a feeling that Zach had been more upset than he'd let on, but Zachary would never admit it to him. Jaden didn't think that broaching the subject in a plane full of passengers would be the wisest idea, either. 

            "Any idea when we'll take off?" Zach reached across the foot of navy carpeting, splotched with coffee and some other substances he wasn't sure he wanted to identify, to prod his brother when he failed to respond. 

            "Huh? Oh...soon, I guess," he shrugged.

            Zach settled back into his seat with a huff. "Oh, forget it."

            "Sorry," Jaden said with a sheepish look. "Here, why don't you look at this...maybe it'll help pass the time," he offered meekly.

            He looked at the brochure his brother had handed to him. "'Proper exiting procedures...' You want me to read a packet on how to inflate a life vest? I appreciate the thought, but I already have one in the pocket in front of me. No need to divest you of your own engrossing emergency brochure."

            Jaden glanced over quickly. "Oops. I meant to give you this magazine." He tossed over the glossy-covered periodical with an embarrassed look on his face.

            Shaking his head, Zach tucked the pamphlet back into the seat pocket and took the magazine. He blinked when he saw the publish date – it was four years old. What was Jaden doing walking around with a four year old magazine? Zach glanced over at Jaden, who seemed to be absorbed in a medical thriller. Shrugging, he flipped through the thin pages absentmindedly. Jaden was messy enough; it wasn't much of a surprise that he didn't bother to throw out old magazines.

            All the lights were dimmed in the cabin after a very unsatisfactory dinner. Zach thought Jaden had fallen asleep, but azure eyes pierced through the darkened cabin when he turned to address him. "Zach–about this wedding..."

            "What about it?" he responded pleasantly, doing his best to ignore the voice that said had the slick movie director not come along, he would have been busy with his own wedding preparations. His past seemed to be full of shifting shadows, irreversible mistakes, and broken promises... 

            "Do you want me to promise that I'll be on my best behavior?" he drawled when Jaden did not seem inclined to speak again. "I won't eat with my fingers, I'll keep my elbows off the table, and I'll be seen and not heard, if that's what you want."

            Jaden laughed shortly. "We're not six anymore. Besides, why would I be in charge of your table manners? Isn't that Mom's lookout?"         

            He laughed back. "Very true. Besides, my manners are much better than yours. You eat like a pig."

            "Excuse me, but pigs are very clean creatures," he shot back in an affronted tone. 

            Cutting short their friendly bantering, Zach leaned his elbow on the armrest thoughtfully. "Who is Mizuno-Anderson marrying again? Some big Japanese tycoon with a strange name?"

            Jaden rolled his eyes. "Don't be insulting. After the wedding, you won't be calling her 'Mizuno-Anderson' anymore. Try using 'Ami.'"

            "Simple words for simple minds."

            "Be quiet."

            "His name?" Zach prodded.

            "Taiki Kou. I met him last summer...seems like a nice guy. Quiet, a little frosty, but very polite. And, of course, very smart."

            Zach laughed again. "Of course, seeing how he's going to marry Ami. Could you expect her to date someone with an I.Q. below one-thirty?"

            With a wide smirk, Jaden replied, "Actually, seeing how she dated _you_ five years ago..."

            "It was six, and what are you implying?" he shot back. Then... "What did you say his name was?"

            "Taiki Kou," Jaden repeated patiently. "How many more times will it take to get the name through your head?"

            Without responding, Zach reached for the magazine he had shoved between two equally-boring newspapers. Perhaps the magazine was not so useless, after all. After a few minutes of flipping furiously through the pages, he came to the desired article.

            "What are you looking for?"

            "Nothing," Zach said calmly. After he had scanned the article again, he dog-eared the page and closed the magazine firmly. At Jaden's annoyed look, he said, "Well, if you must know, it's a recipe for souffle. I was just remembering how hungry I was. Will we be eating soon after the plane lands?"

            Jaden shook his head. "You're impossible."

            "I know," he replied, looking pleased. Inwardly, his mind was leaping ahead, his fingers itching to do a search on his laptop. 

            'Just because you have rotten luck in the romance department doesn't mean that everyone else has to, Zach Coruni,' he chided himself. It was more likely that there was absolutely no mystery around Taiki Kou, Ami's fiancee. Knowing her, he would be an upstanding citizen, bookish, possessed of impeccable manners, and an incomparable bore. Nevertheless, he placed the periodical in his carry-on. 

            Jaden watched him with tired eyes. "Zach..."

            "Yes? Is it about my tuxedo this time? I promise you I will not be wearing puce, mauve, or puke-green," he said with a straight-face. "In fact, I believe it's black. I would switch to white if you want, but I think it would make me look fat."

            "Zach," Jaden admonished in an uncharacteristically stern tone, "this is serious."

            "All right, what's up? I'm all ears. Is Ami not actually getting married after all, or are we here to bail this Taiki fellow out of his illegal drug-running activities, or–"

            "Oh, shut up," his brother moaned, burying his face in his flimsy little pillow. "Never mind. You never listen to me anyway; what's the point?"

            An orange juice drink sailed over to hit him in the head. Before he could squawk a complaint, Zach muttered, "Come on, don't take me so seriously. I listen, and I'm listening, and I do listen, all right?"

            Smoothing ruffled blond curls, Jaden blinked at him. "Right. I don't think that's the correct way to conjugate 'listen,' though...at least, you don't do it three times in one sentence."

            "Can you just spit it out?" he griped, all twinges of guilt vanishing.

            "Okay, okay. So–why are you coming for the wedding, anyway?"

            Zach stared at him. "Excuse me? All the 'You never listen to me anyway; what's the point?' and 'this is serious' guilt-trip, and you ask me why I'm going to this wedding? I just thought you'd like some moral support.

            You're planning on proposing to Rei as soon as Ami's happily married and off to her fairytale life, right? If you do it well, I'll get good and drunk, and if she slaps you across the face, then we'll get smashed together."

            Despite his annoyance, Jaden laughed. "Great, thanks. Well, now that I know you're just along for the booze–"

            "And the bachelor party," he interjected.

            "–right, then there's no reason to worry."

            "Worry about what?" Zach asked in confusion.

            "I was getting to that...I mean..I was just surprised you decided to come with me. You haven't seen Ami for years, and it's not like you kept in touch."

            He groaned. "If this is another chance to hear Zach-the-idiot episodes, I'll pass, thanks."

            Jaden punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Listen up. I'm trying to be serious here."

            "I didn't know that was possible."

            "Shut up. So–you're completely okay with the wedding, right?"

            Zach shrugged nonchalantly, putting his feet on the footrest. "Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't I be?"

            "Well–because you and Ami dated a while back, and I just wanted to be extra sure..." Jaden, in all his goodwill, ended his expression of concerned brotherly sentiments when Zach burst out laughing. 

            "Let me get this straight: I dated Ami for about five days six years ago, and you're worried about us? Do you think I'm planning to fall madly in love with her again, seduce her, and run away with her? Don't answer that," he said quickly when Jaden opened his mouth. "Trust me. I solemnly swear," he said in a mock-virtuous tone, "that I will do nothing of the sort. No evil intentions towards Miss Ami – soon to be Mrs. Kou – whatsoever."

            Jaden rubbed his temples tiredly. "Yeah, next time Rei thinks she has a good idea, I'm not coming along for the ride."

            He smirked. "She just makes you do the dirty work for her. Although I think if Rei had asked me herself, it might have gone over better. She wouldn't have beaten around the bush for half of the in-flight movie. It would just have been 'Hey, Zach, are you an obsessive, deranged ex-boyfriend, by any chance? No? Good, thanks, catch you later.'" 

            Since Jaden was looking annoyed, Zach sighed and added, "Look, I am fine, I am perfect, and I'm looking forward to the wedding. The bride will be beautiful, the groom a bore, and the pews full of hypocrites. Are you satisfied?"

            "Are you sure?"

            "It's all in the past, Jaden. Forget about it – I already have."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

AN: I'm sorry it's taken me so long to continue LAFS...I think the smarter thing to do would have been to have it Love at Third Sight, but that wouldn't have been quite so catchy ^.~ 

            Thank you, everyone, for reading and reviewing. I can't express how much I appreciate the encouragement and praise, but I am very honored. Thank you so much,  

            ~Ice


	16. Bluffs and Baggage

_Part IV, Chapter 2_

After an unrestful night's sleep, Ami was accosted by a call from her cousin while eating breakfast somewhat later than she usually did.

"Ami! Are you all right? You sound so tired... You know, I tried to reach you earlier, but they said you were still sleeping. I was afraid you might have gotten sick," Rei said in a concerned voice.

Ami tried to smile, aware of the bruised shadows under her eyes and the strain in her voice. "No, I'm fine, not sick. I just couldn't fall asleep for a while and then overslept." She could just picture the intuitive purple eyes regarding her sharply.

"Is anything on your mind?"

"Nothing, Rei. Everything is fine," she said firmly. "Why don't you tell me about your plans for today? Actually – why are you calling now?? Is something wrong?" Ami asked, to stop Rei's questions and also because she suddenly realized, checking her watch, that she had made plans to meet Rei at the caterer's at two in the afternoon. Rei preferred to live in an apartment she had leased for the three months she had been helping to plan Ami's wedding.

"Ah...just...calling to check on you," she replied weakly, unprepared for Ami's sudden awareness of her presence.

"All right, Rei, out with it – but I'm warning you, if it's a favor, the answer is no."

Rei sighed, sparing a second to give the impatient driver on her right the evil eye. "Oh, Ami, when did you get so hardhearted?"

She did feel sort of bad about refusing right off the bat, but her reasons were understandable. "Since that time Mina asked me to help her pick out a birthday present for Kunthan and we spent five hours at six different shops. It was a very traumatic experience," she insisted with a dark look when she heard Rei's badly-hidden giggle. "She ended up buying him a food processor! I don't think Kunthan even touches anything in his kitchen besides the refrigerator!"

No longer trying to suppress her giggles, Rei replied, "And the microwave."

"I've had too much experience with granting you guys favors, and when your excuses are that bad, it can't be anything good," Ami went on, determined to put a stop to things before the situation could, as it usually did, get out of hand.

"Ami, please! I promise, it doesn't involve anything to do with Mina or birthday presents, and it definitely won't take six hours."

"What is it, then?"

Rei smiled triumphantly as she sailed past the offended driver and the stalled traffic. Despite the suspicious tone, Ami had caved in, as usual. Her cousin sighed happily as she wiggled her bare toes – it was hard to drive in stiletto heels. "Ami, I'm really, _really_ sorry, but an emergency appointment came up, and you know I was planning to pick up Jaden and Zachary at the airport today..."

Ami groaned. "You're joking. Why can't we just send one of the Kous' cars?"

"Oh, Ami. It's so impersonal that way to have a driver come fetch them; one of us should do it."

She sighed. "What kind of appointment was this again?"

"The...florist," Rei hastily improvised, then hit herself on the head.

"I didn't know about a florist appointment... Why don't I go to the florist and you pick up Jaden?" Ami suggested logically.

"N–no! Then it won't be a surprise!"

Spooning up the last of her sunny side-up eggs, Ami nodded gratefully to the maid who took the empty dishes back to the kitchen. "Um, Rei...didn't you say before that you wanted to leave the flower arrangements completely up to me and Mrs. Kou?" She still hadn't gotten in the habit of calling Taiki's mother, that imposing, elegant woman, by her first name. Rei had weaseled out of all previous florist visits by claiming she was severely allergic to all flowers except Casablanca lilies, which Ami knew was decidedly untrue. She figured her cousin was bored out of her mind by looking at all the pictures of flowers she had no idea existed before she'd seen them.

"Oh, yes. Well, I had a change of heart. If Jaden ever gets up the nerve to pop the question, I want to be prepared," she lied cheerfully. After seeing Ami's wedding preparations, she was more than ready to elope should the opportunity present itself.

Her cousin asked innocently, "But what about your allergies?"

Rei coughed violently. "Uh – went to the doctor's yesterday for allergy medication. All better. Listen, I'll tell you all about my visit later, I have to go now. So you'll pick up Jaden and Zach, right?"

"Oh – but Rei –"

"Thanks, Ames! Love you!" The phone clicked off.

Ami stared at the receiver, a lost look on her face. "But...Rei...you didn't tell me any of the flight information." Each time she dialed Rei's cell phone number, the voicemail picked up. Barely suppressing a scream of frustration, she ran upstairs as sedately as possible (sedateness was a must in the Kou household) to look up the flight information. To her consternation, there were three possible flights they could have taken, three gates, and three arrival times in the next few hours...

* * *

Ami sighed as her car chirped at her, remembering what a struggle it had been to convince the Kous that she would be perfectly fine without a chauffeur. 'Why do I have the feeling that this is going to be a very, very bad day?' she wondered.

It was boiling hot in the airport because of all the people and the noontime sunlight pouring through the huge glass panes. Ami nearly fainted with relief when she spotted two blond heads and the familiar features; she had been roasting for over two hours, her feet had been run over numerous times by extremely heavy suitcases, and four strangers had approached her claiming that their Japanese was "very bad" and soliciting her help. Only one of them had been sincere in his intentions.

So it was that Ami Mizuno-Anderson was in a very, very bad mood as she marched over to Zachary Coruni (Jaden had conveniently disappeared for the moment). "Ahem. Ahem!" she repeated more loudly.

He continued to ignore her, gazing into the crowd with those moody green eyes.

Ami resisted the urge to stamp her foot. She wasn't _that_ much shorter than him, she thought furiously. Besides, he wasn't that much over the average height for a guy himself. She was so annoyed that she forbore to admire the sharply-chiseled planes of his face and the muscular build he had developed and been improving on since his teenage years. "Excuse me!"

For his part, Zachary finally noticed her but returned her irate look with one that clearly expressed his belief that she had a few loose screws. "Sorry, do I know you?" he asked.

Ami peered closely at him, unsure whether he was trying to be funny or not – and if he was, he wasn't succeeding.

He gave a start, and just when she thought he had finally realized who she was, he repeated "Sorry, do I know you?" in better Japanese than she expected, though his accent was still terrible. Rei must have been working on him.

"AMI!"

They both looked up abruptly to see Jaden racing towards them with a bright grin and open arms for Ami.

"Hey, how are you doing? Did Rei come with you?" he asked, casting a longing look around after he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Ami hid a half-wistful smile. "I'm fine, thanks – no, Rei couldn't come, something came up unexpectedly. I'm sure you'll be able to see her shortly after we reach the house, though."

"Great. Listen, I'm just going to get the last suitcase, and then we can go. Have you been here long?"

"Um, no. Not long at all." She faked a smile as he nodded and ran off again. Then she looked up at Zach and quickly away again.

"Er...sorry about that," he said feebly. "It's – it's been a long time."

"For both of us," she replied. "Of course, it's helpful to be able to recognize the bride whose wedding you're going to be attending."

Zach reddened. "Um. Right. I'm really sorry."

'Man, fifteen minutes on Japanese soil and she's already steamed at me?' He took a closer look at her, now that he didn't think she was a nutcase. She seemed like a stranger to him, entirely different from the girl he had known and dated in their teenage years. That Ami, he thought of with a somewhat nostalgic bitterness, was demure, shy, and even-tempered. He conveniently forgot the episodes that had shown him otherwise and the fact that she had spent several years in the cutthroat Japanese school system, and medical school had not been much easier.

In other aspects, she had also changed. Her short hair was now medium-length; the sapphire-highlighted strands brushed her shoulders. Zach spared a short moment's regret that she was about to be married, for she had surely come into her own now. The regret was replaced by sudden jealousy, also rapidly brushed aside. Only those large, ocean-colored eyes, narrowed in irritation now, and the aura of sadness around her remained the same. The latter he was surprised at; he had thought that now she was about to married, she would be glowing with happiness. Striving to be more polite, Ami inquired, "Is this your first visit to Japan, Zachary?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty excited...I was hoping Rei could show me around, but she'll be all wrapped up with Jaden, and he's been here already. I guess I'll be getting lost on my own," he joked.

She smiled faintly. 'Don't make me laugh. I don't even like you.'

"Well, I'm sure one of the aides will be pleased to show you around." She thought of the long-legged, chesty brunette who seemed overly fond of Taiki with some dislike.

"Oh, I don't want to be a bother."

Ami gave him another creepy smile. "It would be our pleasure. Hospitality is very important to our name and tradition."

He nodded, shifting nervously. He was tempted to ask "All right, who are you and what have you done with the real Ami?" but he wasn't sure if this _was_ the real Ami now...

* * *

Ami had refused to relinquish the keys of her snazzy blue car to Jaden, probably because he didn't have a Japanese license and was jetlagged (although he certainly didn't seem like it) or because she was very fond of it. So Jaden sat beside her in the passenger seat, and Zach was kept company by one of their huge suitcases.

"Are you all right back there?" Jaden asked his brother in the middle of his conversation with Ami. "You're being awfully quiet."

Zach shrugged. "Fine. You know, me and this Samsonite carry-on, we're getting along pretty well back here. I think we'll run off without you to the Canary Islands. What do you say, Isabella?"

"Isabella?"

"My suitcase," he answered.

"_My _suitcase," Jaden corrected, "and if you think you're running off with my Crest citrus breeze toothpaste, you're mistaken." Ami glanced at him, but he appeared to be perfectly serious.

Zach pretended disappointment. "Damn! Foiled again. Never fear, my lovely, we'll be free of him yet."

Jaden gave the dark-haired woman a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Ami. It's just The Lord of the Rings – it's gone to his head a bit, you see. Just nod and smile."

"Hmph. I never said the word 'precious,' did I? You're the one who cried when Haldir died in 'Two Towers.'"

"I did not," Jaden insisted, turning beet red.

Confident that he had won the bout, Zach turned his attention to Ami, who was trying her best not to laugh at them. "So what exactly is it that you've been doing these past few years, Ami? Did you become a doctor after all?" he inquired, struck with sudden remembrance.

"Well, I went through a seven-year medical program, but I'm not sure if I'll continue on to be a medical doctor."

"Why not?" he demanded.

"Oh – well, now that I'm going to be marrying Taiki, I'll have a lot less time. I need to learn how to run the household and, you know, help out with business matters and such..."

"That's ridiculous! You put yourself through a seven-year program and now you're giving it up to be a housewife?!"

They waited patiently for the looming gates of the residence to open. She would have turned to glare at him if she hadn't been turning onto the long, winding driveway. "If that's the way you're putting it, yes."

"But–"

Jaden did swing around and fix him with a stern look.

"But?" Ami prompted.

"Nothing," he smiled thinly.

She raised her eyebrows but let it drop.

Eager to dispel the tension in the car, Jaden glanced out the windows at the estate. "There are certainly a lot of cars here. Are you having more company over, Ami?"

She frowned as she, too, looked at the numerous vehicles. Several of them looked very familiar. "Well, some of the wedding guests have begun to arrive, and many of the closer acquaintances have chosen to stay here for the duration, but this is an anomaly..."

"Or maybe it's a welcoming committee," Zach suggested teasingly.

"No, the formal dinner isn't until tomorrow night," Ami replied absentmindedly, "I don't know what's going on today."

A servant took charge of Jaden's luggage: Zach revealed that he had booked a hotel room in advance because he felt awkward lodging with the Kous; their acquaintance was practically nonexistent. Ami and Zach were still arguing the point when they were mobbed in the foyer by Rei and what seemed like all of Ami's friends.

Rei beamed at Jaden first, then hugged her cousin. "Surprise!"

"Oh, my gosh!" she exclaimed, jabbering away in both English and Japanese. "I can't believe you guys did this for me!"

"What exactly is going on?" Zach whispered to Jaden.

"Bridal shower, I think," he murmured back.

Ami was looking a little teary, so Rei said quickly, "I know the timing was pretty bad, but Michiko has to leave tomorrow morning, you know, and this was the only day everyone was free... And I'm such a bad liar, but we needed you out of the house to decorate!"

"Yes, I know," she smiled, "and it looks lovely. Thank you for doing this, everyone." As she turned to her friends, Rei threw her arms around Jaden while Zach stood around feeling left out.

Ami's attention was eventually caught by the presence of her fiancé, after she had finished thanking her assembled friends, who were clamoring for her to begin opening the presents. "Taiki!" she greeted, "I thought you were going to be at the office all day. What are you doing home so early?"

He kissed her, then drew back with a smile. "Well, Seiya called me at work and told me there was an emergency at home. Naturally, I was very confused, but he hung up on me before I could say anything else. So I had no choice but to drive home and be ambushed by everyone," he explained.

"What devious friends – and relatives – we have," Ami laughed back before she noticed Zach standing against the wall all by himself, the object of many curious, mostly female, glances and led Taiki over to him

"Zachary, I'd like you to meet my fiancé, Taiki Kou."

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR, of course... . or Samsonite and Crest and whatever else I decided to use in this story.

AN: See, I told you I would finish this...sometime. And it's a cliffhanger! Yay! Well, it's not really that interesting a cliffhanger, but who knows when this story will be updated again? . Just kidding... Thank you for the reviews, the support, and simply for reading :)

Ice


	17. Out of the Ordinary

_

* * *

At the urging of K.Wyse, I give you..._

_Part IV, Chapter 3_

"Taiki, this is Zachary Coruni, Jaden's brother."

The brown-haired man adjusted his glasses somberly as he regarded Zach with a piercing but not exactly unfriendly gaze. "Hello," he said in perfect English, "welcome to Japan."

Zach shook his hand impersonally, feeling like a beetle under a magnifying glass and hating it. "Thanks. May I offer you my congratulations on your engagement? You're very lucky – Ami is a wonderful person."

She glanced sharply at him, surprised by the sincerity of his tone.

In the meantime, Taiki replied stiffly, "Thank you. I'm well aware of my good fortune, I assure you."

Ami transferred her gaze to her fiancé, wondering why he sounded so hostile. If anyone had the right to be annoyed at the moment, it was her.

Taiki, when he noticed her glinting sapphire eyes fixed on him warningly, exerted himself to be more gracious. "Will you be staying with us for the duration, Zachary? We would be honored to have you."

"Just Zach is fine. And while I appreciate the offer, I've already made arrangements," he responded.

When Rei heard what those arrangements were, she let both him and Jaden have it. "You two are unbelievable! You're here for Ami's wedding, not a business trip!"

"But, Rei–"

"I told you months ago that he could stay at my apartment," she went on, glaring at her hapless boyfriend. "But did you tell him? No, you let him go ahead and make reservations at a hotel."

"But, Rei–"

"Does he even know a word of Japanese?"

Well, Ami thought, maybe he's been studying Japanese on his own. But why would he ever do that? she wondered. Jaden just shrugged, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth as he tried to look properly cowed and submissive and failed miserably.

For his part, Zach said defensively, "Of course I know Japanese!"

His brother smirked now. "You can say 'thanks,' 'goodbye,' 'can you speak English?,' 'sorry, do I know you?,' and 'go to hell.'"

Taiki, who was wondering if he would ever get used to Rei, raised his eyebrows when he heard the last item on Jaden's list. Perhaps because of his subtle disapproval, Ami found herself on the verge of giggling and hurriedly stifled the impulse.

"Really advanced vocabulary," Rei told him wryly. "You're going to cancel those reservations and stay at the apartment."

Zach paled at the thought of spending a month living in the same apartment as Rei Hino. "Rei, that's really nice of you, and I appreciate your offering–"

"Good," she said decisively, "it's settled." With that, she bustled off to supervise the proceedings.

The blond-haired man looked helplessly at first Jaden, then Ami. "Your cousin is a steamroller," he informed the latter in an appalled whisper.

Ami couldn't hold back her smile. "Yes, I know. Don't worry – she spends much of her time here, helping me with the wedding preparations, and with Jaden here as well, you'll have the apartment to yourself most of the time."

Still unconvinced, Zach searched desperately for an escape route. "Hey, Jaden, why aren't _you_ living with Rei?"

His response was a gloomy sigh. "I wish."

"Because Jaden and Rei are not married and not engaged, it's therefore considered inappropriate for them to live under the same roof by the social standards here," Ami told him helpfully.

Zach was about to confirm that they were in the twenty-first century but decided against it, at least at the moment, since Taiki was still looking on stiffly.

"Besides, Rei doesn't bite," Jaden said encouragingly. "At least, she'd better not bite _you_, or you're a dead man."

"But Jaden, I'm your favorite brother, aren't I?" he asked teasingly.

"You're my _only_ brother, Zach."

"Well, all the more reason not to kill me..."

As they walked off companionably as Rei beckoned, Taiki turned to his fiancee with a befuddled look on his face and inquired, "Is this customary in your country?"

Ami towed him over to the towering stack of presents she was supposed to be opening. "Is what customary in the U.S.?" she asked innocently, wishing he wouldn't refer to it as "your country." He made it sound like it was another planet.

He paused. "You...didn't notice anything odd about the conversation that just transpired?"

She just laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "No, nothing."

* * *

Ami woke up two hours later than usual due to the strains of the previous day and, consequently, took her usual, predawn swim around nine o'clock. She was only on her fifth lap when a shadow fell over her and the glistening surface of the chlorinated water.

Once she reached the other end, she stopped, treading water easily, to see who had come in – Yaten, perhaps, or more likely it was Seiya. Or really, it could be any one of the illustrious wedding guests staying with the Kous, she reminded herself, or it could also be...Zachary Coruni. She jolted in surprise at that and disappeared underwater for a minute.

When she surfaced, she was spitting out a mouthful of pool water, and he was looking down at her in concern. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," she muttered. "What are you doing here? Aren't you tired?" Belatedly, she recalled Jaden blithely informing her that he'd woken up at four due to jetlag.

He shrugged, extending his hand to help her out of the water. "Not really. I got up at some ungodly hour, raided the kitchen, and accidentally woke up Rei." He shuddered comically. "After about five cups of green tea, she muttered something about sightseeing and dragged me over here, probably to pick up Jaden."

Ami had been engrossed in the dilemma of whether to ignore his hand and get out herself, but she decided the best way to go was to accept the hand and slop water all over his arm. "I see," she said, smiling sweetly as she took his hand and let him hoist her out of the water.

She discovered it had been a very bad idea when something that felt like static electricity coursed through their joined hands. She was teetering at the pool's edge now as he stared down at her with an unreadable expression, and she felt suddenly awkward and vulnerable in her bathing suit, as bathing suits had the unfortunate tendency to be skintight.

"Morning," Jaden greeted as he walked in.

Zach yanked his hands away reflexively, and Ami, who had already been off-balance, fell backwards into the pool with a little shriek.

When she'd fallen, she'd sent a huge geyser of water over the blond-haired man at fault, and Jaden stared wordlessly at the spectacle of Ami splashing towards the edge with murder in her eyes and Zach opening his eyes cautiously to look down at his drenched clothes. Rei chose this prime moment to enter and stared at her cousin, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend's brother. "Should I even ask?"

"_No_," Ami and Zach chorused simultaneously.

He turned to her, blushing slightly. "I'm really sorry. That had to hurt."

'Tell me something I don't know,' she thought, glowering at him.

Then she replied icily, "I'm fine. Thanks _so much_ for the help, Zach."

He paused in the middle of wringing out his shirt and gave her his best smile; she had to be all right if she could still play the ice queen. "It's not my fault you're a klutz, Mizuno-Anderson."

Rei sighed, exchanging a glance with Jaden. So much for hoping they would finally be on friendly terms. "Okay, you two, let's just go, shall we?"

"I need to change," Zach pointed out logically, peeling off his sopping-wet shirt.

Ami, in the meantime, had wrapped herself in a thick white towel and was attempting to make her escape. "Well, I'll just leave you to your sightseeing. Have a nice day!"

"Not so fast," Rei said, grabbing her wrist. "Don't you want to come with us, Ami?"

She sighed as her cousin pulled her aside, wondering how to word her response on how she would rather jump into a pit of vipers. "Of course, that would be nice, but I'm...rather busy today, with – with the wedding preparations."

The purple-eyed steamroller raised her eyebrows. Both of them knew that the flowers, the guest list, the food, the dress, the shoes – _everything_ has been finalized, and that Ami's schedule for the final month before the wedding encompassed only the interminable, inevitable social meetings. Before she could say anything to that effect, however, Zach drawled impudently, "I'm sure they can get along for a day without your indispensable presence."

Ami spun around to find her face about four inches from his chest, then quickly transferred her gaze pointedly to the wet shirt in his hand.

At that moment, Jaden came over to add his two cents' worth, smiling disarmingly. "Come on, Ames, it'll be fun," he wheedled. "We hardly ever get to spend time with you, and once you're married, you won't be visiting the U.S. often."

She winced as he laid on the guilt. "All right," she capitulated, "I'll go. But we have to be back in plenty of time for dinner, and you'll probably want to take naps before that." She and Rei exchanged amused glances when the two blondes hotly denied her claim that they would fall prey to jetlag.

"You say so now, but you'll see when you start zoning out in the afternoon," Rei said knowingly before she added, "Get a dry shirt on before you catch a cold, Zach!"

Ami smiled as Zach went off sulkily with Jaden to borrow one of his shirts. "Where were you planning on taking them today?"

"Hm...around," Rei said vaguely. When she saw the alarmed look on her cousin's face, she amended hastily, "Around Tokyo?"

Her cousin made a disbelieving sound.

"Come on, Ami, they're guys. All they want to do is eat and, at best, admire the samurai weaponry."

"I don't know why I still bother to hope that something, anything in my life will go smoothly," Ami muttered.

"I really want to see the Meiji Jingu Shrine. Do you think we can go there today?"

Both women spun around to see Zach standing there with an eager expression on his face and a dry shirt on.

* * *

A few hours later, they were walking around the shrine, admiring the grounds. Most unhappily, Ami found herself walking with, of all people, Zach, because Rei and Jaden were strolling ahead of them holding hands and looking soulfully at each other every so often.

She didn't really know why she was in such a foul mood – it was a beautiful day, she didn't have anything to worry about, and Zach was being the perfect guest now, amusing and interested in what they were seeing. The third part was probably why, she decided. Why couldn't he be a pig and say something stupid and touristy?

Just then, he turned to her with a wide grin and urged her to look at something. She regarded him seriously instead of the specified object, smiling politely. Inwardly, her emotions were in a torrent: he looked like an eager little boy with his fair hair, shining eyes, and enthusiastic expression. It saddened her to remember that Taiki had never showed such enthusiasm towards anything in his life, including her.

But she loved Taiki. Maybe he was reserved, even a little cold at times, but he certainly wasn't a deplorable rake, she reminded herself. She really didn't want to think about her previous experiences with Zach; every time she did so, she got a headache. So she was going to act in a mature fashion, as she'd been doing fairly successfully so far, she thought, and genuflect once he was gone.

"So, have you been here before?"

Ami, startled out of her pensive reflections, looked up at him. "No," she answered simply, glancing away under the pretense of admiring a stand of trees to her right.

Zach rubbed the back of his neck, which was turning as red as a boiled lobster, unbeknownst to him. "Hm. Uh, do you like it in Japan?"

She tried, she really tried, not to stare at him as if he'd said something really idiotic – but he had, so he deserved it. Her verbal response was somewhat more diplomatic. "Yes, I've been living here for six years, and I plan to spend the rest of my life here, actually."

His face reddened until it was the same color as his neck. "Oh. Yeah. Well, I mean, was it hard when you first came here?" he tried again. Once he'd said it, Zach felt like hitting himself upside the head.

'Wow, Zach, that was brilliant,' he congratulated himself sarcastically, 'remind her of what happened right before she transferred. Why don't you just ask her exactly how she felt when she saw you kissing Christie in the bookstore? Oh, I forgot, she already told you with explicit detail so you'd know exactly what a jerk she thought you were!'

"Well, it was a change," she said quietly, unaware of what was running through his mind. "But it wasn't too hard – I spoke Japanese fairly well, if not fluently. As you can see, I improved and adapted to everything else. Some of the customs are a little old-fashioned; the Kous, for example, and many of their associates are very conservative. But I liked coming back."

She was telling him more than she had planned to, but she continued anyway, because something inside her wanted so much to explain her feelings. "Once I saw Tokyo, right after I left the airport, it was like coming home, even though the U.S. will always be my home, too. There was a sense of familiarity in the streets, the skyscrapers, the people.

"But it was strange, too, seeing so many Japanese faces around me when there were so few of them in the U.S. You'd think that I would have felt perfectly at home, but the truth is, I got used to being surrounded by American faces."

He smiled in relief and amusement. "But you're lucky to have two places you can call home."

Ami's smile was bittersweet and tinged with wistfulness. "Do you think so? Yes, I'm lucky, on some counts. On the other hand, I left my parents and all my close friends behind: Rei, Jaden, Mina, Lita, and Nevin...and many things that were familiar to me. I've never felt like I've belonged anywhere, Zach; I always feel like I'm caught between two worlds, neither of which I can ever fully belong to." She glanced up at him, feeling a jolt of shock at how familiarly she had spoken to him: she had spoken to him as if they were still teenagers confiding in each other about their innocent dreams in the hall outside his room.

His face was a study of sorrow and sympathy but no empathy. "I'm sorry, Ami."

She tried to turn away, wanting to break out of this intimate rapport they had somehow established, but his eyes were oddly hypnotic. "Well, I'm sure many people who have been transplanted from their mother country feel similarly."

"Ami, Zach, what are you doing?" Rei called.

They held each other's gazes for a few more seconds, then Ami turned from him and walked away.

* * *

AN: Again, apologies for the delay, and thank you for K. Wyse for informing me of my evility ;), which made me update. It's getting late and I have to wake up early tomorrow, so I'm too lazy to look up who said it, but I believe a reviewer mentioned that she'd expected more fireworks between Ami and Zach once they met again. Well, I think they haven't really worked out their feelings about the past, but Ami I feel would always be scrupulously polite – nevertheless, the inevitable confrontation will occur sometime, but maybe not as tumultuous as expected :) Hope my view makes sense; I'm always open to suggestions, criticism, and, of course, praise ;)

Ice


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